Cory's one mistake
by ginger sass
Summary: Years ago Cory Matthews made the biggest mistake he could make. Topanga had forgiven him and that was that. Then one day a nineteen year old knocked on his door looking for his father. Things just got complicated for the Matthews family. Rated T for language currently but the rating may change later on. Pairing information inside.
1. Knock knock

A/N So I decided to put an absolutely massive twist on the whole Riley's older brother thing (its kind of AU). I didn't plan this or anything and I'm just making it up as I go along at the moment; I hope that any readers understand that this is just a bit of fun and isn't really to be taken seriously.

Now as for ships so far (because I know that ships are incredibly important in the GMW area of fanfiction) I'm settled on one and that is Rucas. Personally I'm more of a Lucaya and Riarkle shipper and sometimes I'm a fan of Joshaya as well… But I think that Rucas will work here as I'm still playing around with potential relationships for Maya.

I haven't got anything else to ramble on about up here so without further ado, here is the first chapter of Cory's one mistake. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

* * *

Chapter 1

Cory Matthews only ever made one major mistake in his life. Topanga forgave him for it. And it was a long, long time ago.

He made the mistake four years before Riley was born and although it had never been brought up again Cory still thought about it sometimes, and he often wondered if Topanga thought about it too.

The rest of the family – including their children Riley and Auggie – knew nothing of Cory's one mistake. It was in the past and had nothing to do with the future.

Until now.

Cory's mistake was a boy named Brent.

Yes, he had done what he deemed unforgiveable and had cheated on Topanga. Yes, he regretted it every single day. But it was all in the past and both Cory and Topanga had moved on together, starting a family that they would both do anything for. Their family was a strong one and even took in Riley's best friend Maya when her own mother was struggling. They really were the perfect family image.

That was until a British nineteen year old boy – man, technically – with a northern accent, showed up and knocked on their door. His dark hair was styled in a messy quiff and his moss green eyes were incredibly intense. Tattoos on his arms could be seen poking out of the bottom of his leather jacket and his black combat boots looked as if they had seen better days. Put simply, Brent Lawson looked nothing like his father; looked nothing like a Matthews. But records didn't lie, and he was going to find the man that refused to be his father…

 _Earlier that day_

Brent sat on the hotel room bed nervously as he read his mother's letter for what seemed like the twentieth time. It felt like he'd lost her yesterday but in reality it had been three months. She'd left him with the information that he'd nagged her about for years – the identity of his father and where to find the man. After spending some time in England after she had passed away, Brent decided that it was finally time to find the only family he had left.

He had no idea if they'd accept him or not. It's not like his appearance would make a great impression but he believed that the tattoos on his arms were part of him and who he was; so this Cory Matthews would have to get over it… That is if he didn't shut the front door on his forgotten son as soon as he realised who it was.

No. His mother had said that he was a good man. He wouldn't shut the door in Brent's face without asking for an explanation first.

Hopefully.

Letting out a huge sigh beforehand, Brent fell back onto the bed and tightly shut his eyes. He was about to drop a huge bomb on the guy and the family that he probably had. Hurting Cory Matthews and his family was the last thing that Brent wanted to do, but he was alone now, and closure was what he was searching for.

His plane had only landed a few hours ago but anxiousness was getting the better of him. Brent just wanted to whole thing over and done with and so he silently decided that after getting something to eat, he'd visit the address that his mother had left him. He had no idea if Cory actually lived there but it was worth a shot.

And that was how Brent found himself standing in front of a door that he couldn't bring himself to knock on. He couldn't do it; he was too nervous, and every time he was about to knock his fist fell back down to his side.

"Jesus." Brent swore under his breath in frustration. He never got nervous. It was getting pathetic now; he just needed to man up and knock on the door. So he knocked. One, two, three times. And then he waited.

Click.

He felt his stomach flip as the door opened slowly, revealing a man with short curly hair. The eyes of the man looked him up and down and Brent chose to speak before it got even more awkward than it was.

"Cory Matthews?" Brent asked cautiously.

"Yes?" So it was him. This man was Cory. His father. The man that he had never seen in his whole nineteen years of living. The man that had made a mistake with his mother and would now be paying for it all these years later.

"I know I shouldn't be here and I get that I'm about to make your life a whole lot more complicated," He paused for a breath, taking in the way that Cory frowned in confusion as he listened patiently. "My name's Brent Lawson and I'm-"

"My first son." Cory said weakly as his grip on the door handle tightened noticeably. "Oh, wow." He muttered to himself as he stared at the face of what to him was a stranger. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to meet my father." Brent replied bluntly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've never even seen a picture of you – you can't blame a guy for being curious."

"I have a family." Cory said sternly.

"Lucky you." He muttered in a tone that was almost poisonous.

"I have a wife and a daughter and a son,"

"Cory, honey, who's at the door?" Cory immediately froze when he heard his wife's voice approaching to see who the visitor was. Brent simply looked on in silence as Topanga Matthews stopped beside her husband and got a look at the guest.

"You must be Mrs Matthews." Brent said, changing his deep tone to a friendlier one. She smiled politely to him but it did not reach her eyes as she began searching her husband's face for answers. Cory still looked pale; he was frozen on the spot and Brent could tell that he was freaking out on the inside.

"Cory." Topanga said quietly as she placed a hand on his arm, snapping Cory out of his trance.

"Topanga, this is Brent, my son." Cory explained tensely as Brent nodded at him in thanks for being honest as he put his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. Topanga froze just as Cory had and some colour drained from her face also.

"Invite him in Cory." Topanga muttered in a tone that Brent noticed to be slightly reluctant. "I'll make a decaf for you both while you sit and chat." She moved away from the door quickly, making a beeline for the coffee as Cory opened the door slightly wider in a gesture for Brent to enter. Brent didn't look around much, instead simply following Cory over to the couch.

"Look," Cory started. "My kids are in their rooms getting ready for bed, they don't know-"

"That I exist. Yeah, that's what I expected as soon as you mentioned them to be honest." Brent cut in, his tone indicating that he wasn't up for dancing around any points. "I understand that me being here is a shock to you and that it would probably be better if I'd have stayed in England but my mum…" He trailed off as Topanga passed him a cup of decaf before sitting down next to Cory. "She passed away a few months ago."

"Oh," Topanga said softly, her eyes shining with sympathy that had certainly not been there when he was standing at the front door. "We're sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Brent replied coolly. "She'd been battling cancer for a while and it finally got too much for her. Her passing is the reason I'm here, trying to find the family I've got left. I know that no time would ever be a good time for me to appear in your lives, Mr and Mrs Matthews, but now that my mother's gone I'm finally understanding how important family is-"

"Family is everything." Cory commented with a small smile as he put an arm around Topanga. "You've come here looking for a family, and our family has never turned someone in need of a family away."

"I hated what Cory did." Topanga said to Brent as she looked him dead in the eye. "But I'm not going to hold what happened against you – nothing in the situation was your fault. It will take some getting used to and I have no idea how Riley and Auggie will react when we tell them about this but I want you to know that if you ever need someone, I'll be here, and so will Cory."

"Are you sure, Mrs Matthews?" Brent asked after he had swallowed thickly. The kindness that Cory and Topanga were showing him made him slightly emotional. And he would not, under any circumstances, cry. He had a tough guy image to protect here. "I can just go back to England now if it's too much of a burden for either of you."

"You're my son Brent. You're a part of this family." Cory said, much to the shock of Brent. He had no idea that they would be so accepting in such a short amount of time. The two of them really were good people – just like his mother had said.

"Thank you Mr Matthews."

"Call me Cory, Brent." He said with warm smile.

"And while we're talking about names, call me Topanga. You don't need to be all formal with us." Topanga added with a smile that reflected her husband's.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." Brent said as he ran a hand through the front of his hair. "I honestly thought you were gonna slam the door in my face the moment I said who I am."

"I considered it." Cory said seriously as he took a sip from his cup of coffee that Topanga had made. "But it was my actions years ago that brought us all to where we are now, and I had to put any selfish thoughts aside and listen to my wife when she told me to let you in. You've just lost your mom – we can't let you go through that alone."

Brent was just about to reply when his phone started vibrating in the pocket of his jacket. He gave his father and his wife an apologetic look as he took out his phone and glanced down at the caller.

"Bloody Jacob." He muttered before reluctantly answering the call. "Hold on a minute Jake." Brent snapped as he removed the phone from his ear. "Do you mind if I step outside? I've really got to answer this."

"Not at all, go ahead." Topanga said as Brent rose from his seat and exited the apartment quickly, shutting the door behind him so that Topanga and Cory could talk about what was happening. They were in need of a serious talk and Jacob ringing him gave them the opportunity as Brent stood just beside the door.

"I've just tracked down my dad, Jacob. We were having our first conversation."

" _Sorry mate but this couldn't wait."_

"Well come on then, I haven't got all night."

" _Calm down, calm down. You're lucky I'm your manager you know – any other person and they'd have quit their job in minutes."_

"Why did you ring me?"

" _I'm just trying to say that you're not really that easy to talk to most of the time-"_

"If you don't tell me why you rung me in two seconds I'm ending this call and turning off my phone."

" _Alright, alright. We'll talk about your crappy attitude next time. I rung you because everything's going to shit here. People are finding out that you've left for good and that you've left England, and there's loads of lads here that are kicking an' screaming because they wanted a shot at you and now they can't have one."_

"How is that my problem? I told you before I left that I'm done with the cage."

" _Because they're all taking it out on me mate. That's why it's your problem."_

"Just make them all believe that I haven't told you anything. Tell anyone who asks that you know just as much as them. It'll be fine; everyone'll forget about me in the next few months."

" _Are you having a bloody laugh? You're a legend here. You're undefeated in the cage and you've taken on anybody and everybody in the last three years. There's got to be a queue of at least twenty guys that wanted a shot at you and now you've gone and they still want to beat one of the best cage fighters in the history of underground cage fighting."_

"I'm done with the cage."

" _You can't just give up on what you're good at mate – you've always loved fighting."_

"Listen Jake, I've found a really good family here. They're probably already thinking I'm a ragger because of my tattoos and stuff and I don't want them finding out that I used to be an underground cage fighter. The people I've met so far are great people and I'm not gonna mess this up by letting them know that I liked to fight."

" _Liked? That love for fighting that you have can't just disappear Brent. I bet it's still there, deep down. When you're feeling the need to kick some arse again, give me a buzz, yeah?"_

"Right, yeah, fine. I'm gonna head back in there now and hope they haven't changed their minds while I've been out here. Take care."

" _You too."_

Brent ended the call quickly and let out a deep sigh. Jacob's words always got under his skin and the guy was right: Brent did still love to fight. Maybe he didn't crave it anymore but the anger still appeared. His mother made it clear that she hated seeing him limping around the house with cuts and bruises on his face but then he'd argue with her, pointing out all the money that he would make after a win.

He sighed again. No more fighting. No more anything that had anything to do with the cage.

"Brent? Are you out here?" His neck snapped round quickly to see Topanga's head poking out into the corridor.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Brent said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm really tired after the flight this morning, do you mind if I head out?"

"Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"I've got a hotel room booked for a couple of nights." He replied.

"Well if you stick around for longer then you're welcome to stay with us rather than spending all that money on a room." Topanga said in a motherly tone.

"Thank you, Topanga." Brent said as he discreetly thought about how he hadn't questioned her unique name until now. Topanga? Was he even saying it correctly with his accent?

"You're welcome to come by and meet Riley and Auggie tomorrow Brent. We'll have to take time explaining over breakfast but you can join us for dinner if you're comfortable with that." She said, smiling in a way that a mother would smile at her child. She was so accepting, even knowing that he was the child of a woman that her husband had been unfaithful with.

"I would love that. Thank you for the offer."

* * *

The new day came all too soon and the Matthews family along with Maya were all sitting around eating breakfast like they would on any other day when Cory finally broke the news hesitantly.

"Riley, Auggie." He said, getting their full attention. "And Maya." He added as the blonde held up her glass of orange juice, toasting sarcastically to her late mention. "Your mother and I have some news to share."

"We're getting a supercool car." Auggie guessed, amusing Riley and Maya with his outburst.

"No." Cory said seriously. "I never told you kids this, because it happened way before either of you were born-"

"This doesn't sound good." Maya commented to Riley as the brunette listened to her dad intently.

"Your father and I were having issues with our relationship." Topanga continued, just as seriously as Cory. "And even though it's in the past, we're telling you this now because last night your dad met his son – your half-brother." The bomb had officially been dropped. All that could be heard was the clattering of Auggie's fork as he dropped it onto the plate that had previously held pancakes. Riley's jaw was open so wide that Maya had to push it up for her as she stared at Cory in shock.

"It was the biggest mistake I ever made and although your mother forgave me I never really found it in me to forgive myself. And then last night I opened the door and saw the face of a son that I'd never been the father to. It was a huge shock." Cory said quietly as he waited nervously for his kids to react.

"The reason we're telling you all this now is because I asked him to join us for dinner tonight." Topanga finished bluntly.

"You did what?" Riley asked in a shocked whisper.

"Brent is joining us for a family dinner tonight." Cory repeated. "So I want the both of you here on time and on your best behaviour."

"Maya you're welcome to join us." Topanga added.

"Oh, I am so not missing this." She replied, giving a frozen Riley a nudge with her shoulder.

"Why's he here?" Auggie piped up suddenly.

"Because he needs a family." Cory stated simply. "And now that he's in our lives we should all make an effort with him."

"Is he hot?"

"Maya." Riley scolded before giggling at the outburst of her best friend.

"He's got tattoos, dark hair and last night he was wearing a leather jacket." Topanga shrugged innocently as Cory frowned at her. "Make of that what you will." She winked at Maya.

"What is it with you and guys in my family Peaches?" Riley asked light-heartedly.

"I only asked if he was hot Riles." Maya replied with a smirk. "If he is then I'm going to sit across from him tonight and if he isn't then I'll sit somewhere else."

"I'd sit across from him, if I were you." Topanga joked. "We don't know Brent that well yet but to me he looks like a bit of a bad boy."

"That is so gonna be my nickname for him." She said, grinning. "Either that or I don't know – maybe a variation of boing, or something to do with twilight if he gives off an Edward vibe-"

"You haven't even met him yet." Cory cut in with a chuckle.

"And when I do meet him, I'll have even more nicknames to call him." Maya said bluntly. "So he wears a leather jacket," She thought out loud. "Could always call him grease lightning."

"Mom, what have you done?" Riley asked, smiling as she watched Maya brainstorm names for her new half-brother.


	2. Family dinner

A/N Hope is for suckers. I don't know why that line sticks with me, it just does. So I couldn't help but hint it, because quite frankly, I love hinting stuff.

Thank you to those who have followed and reviewed this fic so far – I wasn't really expecting any reaction to this to be honest.

I believe in nargles too – I like that idea actually, and I'm working on it, but if you've got a suggestion for me then by all means go ahead;)

* * *

Chapter 2

Brent had left the Matthews household hastily and now he was regretting his actions. Topanga had invited him over for dinner but what time did they have dinner? It wasn't like he'd asked for their phone number or anything so there was no way of contacting either Cory or Topanga; so now he was stuck debating whether they were the type of family to eat early or late.

Bloody hell.

Way to make a good first impression.

If he showed up at seven he might be so late that all the food had been eaten because they'd given up on his arrival.

But if he showed up at five he could be incredibly early and that would just be awkward.

Six. He'd show up at six. Because it was in the middle of five and seven and if he was late he could apologise and if he was early it wouldn't be too early.

"This is actually happening." Brent whispered to himself as he stood with his hands resting on his sides as he looked down at the clothes in his suitcase. What to wear? What to wear? Last night he'd just shown up at their front door in jeans and a leather jacket but were they expecting him to dress different for a meal or not?

Brent sighed. Why did he even care? He was never really concerned about his appearance… But this was a meal with his _father_. A man that he didn't know but had wanted to know since he learned that he didn't have a father figure in his life. It wasn't just with his father but his father's wife along with his half-sister and half-brother that he hadn't yet met.

His sharp green eyes locked on a short sleeved black shirt in the corner of his case. It wasn't overly formal but it wasn't as casual as a t-shirt. That with his pair of blue jeans and his boots would be fine and hopefully they wouldn't mind seeing all of his tattoos on his forearms. Yes, that would be fine.

After showering and shaving to make sure he looked as presentable as possible, Brent dressed in what he had chosen earlier, picked up his phone and left the hotel room. It was currently half past five, but setting off early was what he had to do as he was still learning the whole getting a taxi thing in New York.

Brent arrived at the Matthews' apartment just before six and did his best to cover his nervousness as he knocked on their door. Nervousness wasn't something he felt often, but when it came to the Matthews family and his father, it was something that was constantly there. He didn't really understand why he became so polite and hesitant around Cory Matthews – he'd never been so polite and anxious when talking to someone when he lived in England – but it just happened.

The door clicked open and Cory gave Brent a tight smile as he opened it wider to allow his son to enter. The two shook hands, and Brent noticed Cory's eyes scanning his forearms as he took in the numerous tattoos that covered his skin.

"So is this my new brother?" Brent heard a boy ask from behind Cory. The boy moved further into view and Brent looked down at his curly haired half-brother. Auggie Matthews looked quite like his father and the only similarity that Brent could see between him and the younger child was that their eyes were a similar green; Auggie's being lighter with an innocent gleam that Brent had lost a long time ago. "I'm Auggie." He said, holding out his hand just as his dad had done moments ago.

"Nice to meet you Auggie, I'm Brent." Brent replied as he shook the small hand of his half-brother.

"You don't sound American." Auggie commented as he kept hold of Brent's hand and took him over to the table, sitting him on one of the chairs across from the bench.

"I don't sound American because I'm not American." He said as Auggie sat down on the seat beside him.

"Cool. What are you then?" Auggie asked as Brent looked around, noticing that Cory and Topanga were working on the meal. Well at least he was early, not late. It made a better impression.

"I'm British." Brent answered, taking his phone out of his jeans pocket and putting it on silent before putting it away again.

"Riley does an English accent sometimes and you don't sound like her."

"I'm not from down south. I don't talk like the stereotypical Londoner, if you get what I mean." He said as he tried to find a comfortable position on his chair at the table. Brent internally groaned. He was a big guy and his table was clearly not made for tall guys with a generous muscle mass.

"Maya's gonna make fun of you so bad." Auggie gave him a knowing smirk when Brent frowned in confusion. Maya? He hadn't heard her name before? Riley was his half-sister and that was the only other name he knew.

"Maya?" Brent asked, intrigued. "Why's she going to make fun of me mate?"

"Maya is Riley's best friend, they're basically sisters. She's with Riley right now – she's having dinner with us, isn't she dad?"

"Yep, they should be out in a minute." Cory said as he began setting the table, finally giving in to Topanga's nagging that he had to do it.

"Maya gives everyone nicknames, and you have an accent, so she's gonna have a field day." Auggie told him. "I think she's got a few lined up already but when she meets you…"

"I can handle a few nicknames." Brent grinned at his younger half-brother, flashing his straight white teeth.

"Few." Auggie snorted.

"Mom is he here yet-" Riley said as she entered the room with Maya flanking her. Her mouth snapped shut when she noticed Brent already seated beside Auggie. Maya grabbed her arm, dragging her round to the bench as she too stared at Brent.

"Brent's from England." Auggie blurted out suddenly. Brent couldn't help but watch as the blonde opposite him smiled deviously.

"England, ay, old chap?" Maya asked while Cory and Topanga began laying the food down on the table.

"If you're expecting me to love the Queen and have a southern accent, you're going to be very disappointed blondie." Brent said with a smirk as he picked up the glass of water in front of him and took a sip, flashing the two girls his tattoos as he did so.

"Excuse her." Riley finally spoke with a big smile. She had suddenly gained a lot of energy and Brent was taken back slightly by how jolly and excitable she seemed to be. "I'm Riley and this is my best friend Maya."

"So I've been told." He replied smoothly. "It's very nice to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too." Riley said happily as her parents took their seats. "So you're my brother?"

"Our." Auggie corrected as everyone began tucking into the meal that had been prepared by Topanga with Cory's aid. Everyone around the table laughed at what Auggie had said and Brent couldn't help but smile slightly. He couldn't believe that he'd missed out on this his whole life. These people were so happy and it was so easy to feel at home around them.

Brent looked up and found his eyes locked with the sparkly blue orbs of the girl seated across from him. She was analysing him, Brent could tell. The way she was observing him; it was as if she was trying to see what type of person he was. To see if he was good enough of a person to be around Riley and the rest of the family.

He probably wasn't. But he wasn't going to give up being around these people just yet. So he gave her a reassuring smile before turning his head to listen to the question that Topanga was asking.

"So, Brent, how long are you in town for?" She asked, smiling another one of those motherly smiles of hers.

"My flight's in a few days but I don't know if I'm gonna get on it or not. I've not really got anything left in England for me now so a fresh start might be good, I don't know." He said, attempting to keep all of his doubts at bay and out of his tone.

"You sound a little confused Big Ben." Maya said with a teasing smirk.

"Sorry Central Park, I'll keep my confusion away from you." Brent's smirk was mirroring Maya's and although she failed to cover her shock because he was able to keep up with her, she still continued to look him in the eye.

"You should stick around." Auggie smiled up at his new big brother with a clear fondness in his eyes.

"You should." Riley agreed with a grin. "None of us know much about you and we all want to get to know you better."

"You do?" Brent asked, looking to his father.

"We do." Cory said sincerely. "And if you choose not to get on the flight, you're welcome to take the couch here until you've settled and are on your own two feet here in New York."

"Well if you have any questions to ask me, fire away. You all want to get to know me better so go for it." Brent said, knowing that he'd have to dodge a few questions even though he was supposed to be being honest.

"What's England like?" Riley asked.

"Wet." He replied bluntly. "Like seriously it constantly rains. And when it's not raining, it's snowing or it's windy or it's just cold outside. Terrible weather."

"What about school?" Cory questioned as his teacher side appeared. "Did you go to a good high school?"

"Secondary school was up and down for me, but it's like that for every teenager so I've got nothing to complain about. I wasn't a top student, I didn't get A's often-"

"That is literally my life in half a sentence." Maya snickered as she thought about her own grades.

"I finished my exams with B's and C's, my only A was in business. I was in detention and isolation a lot – there was this gang of lads my age that thought they could speak to people however they wanted and I ended up getting punished for fighting with them a lot." Brent continued, struggling to hold back a chuckle as he watched Maya laugh silently about his behaviour.

"Well at least you got an A in one of your subjects." Topanga said. She was looking for the positives just as Riley always would. "Did you continue your education further?"

"Do I really look like a guy that's going to uni?" He asked sheepishly.

"Can we keep him Mr. Matthews?" Maya laughed. "Please?" She asked as Riley began laughing too.

"Well you got an A in your business class, you must have enjoyed the subject." Cory said with an encouraging smile. "Did you apply to any colleges?"

"No."

"Why not?" Auggie questioned.

"I never really had any aspirations or goals or anything so I didn't really see the point – I still don't. It's just not for me." Brent shrugged as he finished his water.

"Did your mother not push you or have a discussion with you about it?" Cory asked. He had gotten a little tense, Brent noted. In fact, Cory looked genuinely concerned about the education of his first son and perhaps even slightly annoyed that he had not opted for further education.

"She was a very busy woman, being a single mother wasn't easy for her. We didn't talk much."

"Was?" Riley repeated innocently.

"She passed away a few months ago." Brent explained quietly. "Cancer."

"My dad walked out when I was younger, my mom's only just remarried. I get what it's like growing up with a single mom that's always working to pay the bills." Maya said softly, giving him a strained smile that Brent couldn't help but return. She understood him. She understood that it wasn't something that was easy to talk about. Riley's best friend understood that segment of his life. He never thought he'd meet someone that experienced the same pain that he had at a young age.

"Riley has a boyfriend." And then there was Auggie. The kid was a lifesaver, changing the subject abruptly so that his new big brother could have a quick escape. It wasn't exactly the best conversation to have at a family dinner anyway.

"Riley's got a boyfriend, who?" Brent asked his younger half-brother as he looked across at his new half-sister.

"His name's Lucas. He's from Texas." Auggie answered eagerly.

"So this Lucas, is he a good guy?"

"Lucas is perfect." Riley said dreamily and Brent chuckled when Maya playfully rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"I bet he is." Brent said sarcastically as he put both utensils down on the empty plate.

"Huckleberry's a nice guy, so don't worry about it Big Ben – you won't have to go all protective big brother on him when you meet him."

"Big Ben? Is that seriously the one you're sticking with sweet heart?" He asked, grinning smugly as Maya's cheeks reddened slightly.

"Well it's either that or muscleman." She replied. "If you were wearing a leather jacket I'd have called you grease lightning already but the black shirt's limited my options."

"If I was you I'd pick my next words very carefully Brent." Topanga advised as she stood up and began clearing the plates. "Maya's fierce."

"I can tell." Brent muttered as he looked to Auggie: his saviour and his new favourite brother. "Have you got any cool stuff in your room?" He asked as Maya playfully glared at him over the table.

"Yeah, loads of cool stuff, wanna come and see?" Auggie caught on immediately, grinning at Riley because he had managed to take Brent away first.

"You are a legend." Brent said as he followed Auggie away from the table, giving the two girls a small wave as he disappeared round the corner.

The two spent around half an hour in his room; Cory had come and joined them after a few minutes and watched as Auggie began to show Brent random items around his room. Brent remained interested as Auggie continued to show him various toys and items, proving to Cory that he could be a good brother to the youngest member of the Matthews family.

When it was finally time for Auggie to get ready for bed, Brent went back out into the living area and sat talking to Topanga about what he thought of New York so far and what he had done since landing. Riley and Maya had returned to Riley's room shortly after dinner – probably for a talk at the bay window. And Cory joined Topanga and Brent once Auggie had finally settled down and got into bed.

Brent had enjoyed his night with the Matthews family and couldn't help but feel content as he sat talking about Riley and Auggie with Cory and Topanga. The two had endless amounts of stories to tell about their children, both funny and serious. He knew he shouldn't, but Brent couldn't help but feel slightly bitter; knowing that he missed out on growing up in this environment because his father didn't want him around at that stage in his life.

Brent had loved his mother. He always would. But he wouldn't lie and say that he had a good upbringing when in reality it was far from perfect. Being a single mother was incredibly tough for her and she often found herself working up to sixteen hours a day to cover the bills. Brent couldn't blame her for doing that though, because he understood that his mother had no other choice. It left him alone, though. And when his mother was at home she'd do three things:

1\. Talk to Brent

2\. Sleep

3\. Drink

At this point in his life, Brent couldn't blame her for doing number three. If it gave her even the tiniest amount of happiness, he was glad that she drank. He knew why she drank; she'd lost hope. That was why Brent decided that he'd never have hope so that he couldn't lose it.

 _Hope is for tossers._

Brent considered no hope to be one of the main reasons of success in the cage. He never hoped that he'd win the fight. He knew that he'd win the fight. God, he needed to stop thinking about the cage. Brent wouldn't say it out loud but he was craving a fight just thinking about it. Think about something else, his mind told him repeatedly.

Riley had a boyfriend. That was a good thought to take his mind off the cage… A good thought indeed.

Brent knew that he had no right to protect Riley like a big brother should, because after all, he was only her half-brother – and they'd only just met. If she ever came to him in need of advice or to tell him that that Lucas had done something wrong, Brent would be honoured. He'd talk to her about it, or he'd kick the kid's ass, depending on what she said to Brent and what the situation was.

He wanted to be her brother. He wanted to be Auggie's brother as well. Brent had grown up an only child that wanted a sibling; now he had two. Then there was also Riley's best friend, Maya. She understood a piece of Brent's life that no one had ever understood, because she'd been through something similar at the same point in her life. Maybe one day he'd get the chance to talk to her about it. Brent had no idea if she would be willing to share her story but at least she would look out for him in situations involving talking about his upbringing – just like she had done tonight.

"You should drop by Topanga's tomorrow." Topanga said, snapping Brent out of his thoughts.

"Sure." Brent nodded politely. "If I can find it, I'll stop by." He joked, making both Cory and Topanga laugh quietly.

"You know what, give me your phone number and I'll text you the address so you don't forget." Topanga said with a smile as Brent pulled out his phone and the two exchanged numbers. He was internally bouncing up and down knowing that he had established proper contact with the family instead of just knowing how to show up to their apartment. "You'll get to meet Katy, Maya's mom; she helps me run the shop and does a lot of the waitressing."

"I'll be sure to visit." Brent said as he watched Riley and Maya fly into the room. The two made a beeline for the fridge, clearly forgetting that Topanga and Cory will still up talking to their visitor.

"Girls," Cory whined. "Do you really have to raid the fridge? We've just filled it up again after last time."

"Relax, Matthews." Maya drawled, holding out her arms as Riley shoved snacks and drinks into them.

"We won't take your favourite ice cream again dad. Promise." Riley chirped as Maya kicked the fridge door shut.

"You can't possibly eat all that." Cory stated with an incredulous look on his face.

"We're having a super long bay window talk and we thought we needed some snacks to go along with it." Riley said innocently. "And we're having a sleepover, so the food needs to last all night."

"Wanna come and eat some crap with us Big Ben?" Maya asked, smirking at Brent.

"As much as I would love to, I'm gonna have to decline the offer blondie."

"What, you afraid of a little junk food, muscleman?" She teased, making him feel challenged so that he would change his mind. Riley had said during their bay window talk after dinner that she wanted to get to know Brent when he wasn't around her dad, and this was the perfect opportunity to get him away from Cory if only he'd say yes…

"Maybe next time."

"You spent time with Auggie and mom and dad, don't you want to spend time with me and Maya?" Riley was giving him the puppy dog eyes and Brent knew it. He could see Topanga trying to hold in her laughter and he looked to Cory for help, only to find that the high school teacher was still staring at the mountains of snacks that the girls were carrying.

"Bloody hell stop giving me that look." Brent sighed, finally cracking under the pressure that Riley was putting on him.

"She'll stop giving you that look if you come and hang with us for a bit." Maya said, grinning victoriously.

"Alright, fine, Jesus Christ stop it now, I'm coming." Brent said as he rose from the couch and followed the two girls.

"That wasn't so hard, was it muscleman?" Maya asked smugly as she sat down in the bay window. Riley dropped the snacks on her bed and followed, gesturing for Brent to come and sit beside her. He did so, sitting awkwardly in the infamous bay window as Maya began ripping open a packet of chips that she had grabbed from a nearby cupboard while Riley was raiding the fridge. "These, Big Ben, are called chips."

"They're called crisps where I come from sweet heart." Brent replied teasingly as she and Riley began crunching down on their stolen food.

"British people are weird." Maya commented with a smirk.

"It adds to our charm, blondie."

"What about all the tattoos on your arms?" Riley asked. "Are they part of the charm?"

"No," Brent chuckled as he finally relented and took a chip out of the bag that Maya was waving at him from the other side of the bay window. "I just like them."

"Why'd you get them?" She questioned, always curious.

"Well I started getting them because I wanted them and I liked them. Then some guys told me I should get more – to make me look more intimidating, apparently. So now I've got them all the way up my arms and just across the top few centimetres of my chest and back."

"They're pretty cool. The artist that did them looked like they knew what they were doing." Maya said as she critiqued the art on his arms. Her artist side was coming out and Riley couldn't help but explain.

"Maya's an artist." She said, grinning. "She's really good."

"I'm really not that good Riles." Maya argued. Brent couldn't help but respect the way that she remained humble when talking about what was clearly a passion of hers. "So why did you need to look more intimidating tough guy?"

"It was just stuff to do with the crowd I was in with – I don't really like talking about it." It was the people that supported him and bet on him during his cage fights. It was his manager, Jacob, saying that he'd have more respect if he got more ink. But Brent was most certainly not going to tell his new half-sister Riley and her best friend that.

"Are you still with those people?" Riley asked.

"No, thank god for that."

"Got anything shady that you want to tell us about before we find out for ourselves?" Maya asked bluntly as she cracked open a can of orange soda that shouldn't have really been in Riley's room.

"If you really want to find some stuff out about me by all means, do some digging." He deflected, knowing that she most likely wouldn't find anything. When he fought in the cage he didn't use his name so there was no way they could find him on the internet. Cory didn't know anything so they wouldn't get any information out of him either. In simpler words, Brent wasn't worried.

"You don't look worried, half-brother of mine." Riley observed. "Just a heads up though – Maya finds everything, don't ya peaches?"

"Everything." The blonde repeated with a devious smirk.


	3. His addiction

A/N Pairings are flying at me and every time I see a new review I start playing around with new ideas. It's really interesting and I'm loving it so let's keep this feedback up.

So first off Brent and Riley kind of shocked me to be honest, because my current plan is for them just to be halfsiblings. But still, I do see where people are coming from. Like that would literally be such a huge twist and I love a good twist.

I'm a fan of Lucaya. But they won't be featured in this. Maybe I'll do another fic at some point that focuses on them because I wouldn't mind trying to write one, but as for this one I'm sorry Lucaya shippers, they won't be together in this fic.

As for Brent and Maya I'm sitting on the fence. I'm liking their teasing and banter at the moment but I haven't brought Josh into the picture yet, so I guess I see the two of them having a more brother/sister type of relationship, rather than a romantic one at the moment.

So anyway… New chapter. We can now meet a different side of Brent.

* * *

Chapter 3

The craving got worse at night. It got worse when Brent knew that there were people fighting in the cage while he was doing push ups in his hotel room or trying to sleep in the comfortable bed. He couldn't sleep knowing that before his mother passed, he would be fighting in the cage at the current time.

Maybe one fight would give him peace. _Just one_. Just one fight would make it all go away and make the cage a part of his past. So he rang Jacob, because he just couldn't help himself.

"Jake?"

" _Yeah, buddy?"_

"I can't stop the craving anymore. I'm not even pissed off, I just feel like I need to fight again."

" _Good. I've been waiting for you to say that for months."_

"Thing is I'm thinking about staying here, in New York."

" _Baby steps."_ Brent listened to Jacob mutter as his British friend began rustling and making noise on the other end of the phone. " _I'm sure I've got a contact in, what's it called, Brooklyn?"_

"He does underground shit though, right? I'm not fighting on the TV or anything like that."

" _Of course he does all the underground stuff. In fact, I swear I've introduced you to him before."_

"You've introduced me to like at least two hundred people, don't expect me to keep up with the names and faces."

" _Got it. I remember now, the guy said he'd love to have the legendary Vagos fight in one of his cages. Told you he'd pay you good money as well, remember?"_

"Nope."

" _John Martin."_

"Doesn't ring any bells."

" _I'll try and find his number so I can get in contact with him. Then I'll tell him you're in New York right now and you want to get back into fighting. If he answers and likes the idea, I'll get you an address for tomorrow night. How does that sound?"_

"Excellent. The sooner the better."

" _Oh, mate this is gonna be fucking awesome. Legendary, undefeated underground cage fighter goes international – starts fighting in an American cage – wins and kicks the arse of his opponent."_

"I'll be the one getting my arse kicked if I don't find a gym here and start training again; my fitness is probably going downhill as we speak."

" _Don't talk like that – you're talking like Brent Lawson. And I don't represent Brent Lawson. I represent Vagos. And Vagos doesn't need to go to the gym in order to win, because he just kicks arses anyway."_

"Vagos is just my cage name."

" _Yeah but it represents you and how you fight. You're Vagos, Mr Lawson. You're Reckless. You're brutal and you're reckless in that cage and you win-"_

"Alright, fine. Stop with the cheesy pep talks. I'll go find a gym to join tomorrow while you get me that address."

" _Yep, I'll text you as soon as I've got it."_

"Cheers Jake."

Brent threw the phone on his bed and sighed. He had a long day tomorrow: looking for a gym, stopping by Topanga's and then visiting this John Martin guy once Jacob had sent him an address. He'd tell John that he was there for a fight – one, single fight, just to let off some steam. It wasn't going to turn into a regular thing. But then again, that's what Brent said when he started fighting in England, too.

* * *

"Hi mom!" Riley called as she entered Topanga's with Maya, Lucas, Farkle, Zay and Smackle all following close behind her.

"Hey honey." Topanga greeted from behind the counter where she stood beside Katy. "Usual's are coming right up." She said, smiling at the group of friends as she and Katy began preparing drinks while the group took their seats at their usual spot. When their drinks were ready, Katy and Topanga carried them over to the group of teenagers that were chatting happily. "You didn't happen to see Brent on your way here, did you?" Topanga asked Riley, unaware of the fact that she and Maya hadn't yet told their friends about Riley's new half-brother.

"Brent? Riley, who's Brent?" Lucas asked quickly, getting the attention of the whole group as he frowned, most likely getting jealous without hearing an explanation first. Lucas always got jealous when it came to Riley but she didn't mind, knowing that it came from the right place.

"Chill out Huckleberry-"

"Brent's my brother." Riley cut in, stopping Maya from winding up Lucas even further. "He's just arrived in New York."

"I didn't know you had another brother." Farkle said, clearly confused. He had known Riley most of his life and no guy named Brent had ever been mentioned.

"She didn't either until yesterday." Maya snorted.

"We're halfsiblings." Riley said to the group as she smiled innocently at her boyfriend. "Brent's lived in England all his life, he came here looking for his dad."

"And his dad, turned out to be your dad." Zay continued. "Damn, I didn't know Matthews-"

"Don't finish that sentence Zay." Topanga warned, smiling in good humour as Katy went to serve another customer.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lucas asked with the hurt expression on his face that always made Riley feel bad and made Maya tease him more.

"We met him last night Ranger Rick." Maya said as she jumped to Riley's defence. She was not going to let Riley and Lucas fall out over something as silly as this, even if Lucas would end up getting over it in the space of ten minutes. He could never stay mad at Riley.

"I just forgot to mention it before." Riley shrugged, letting him know that it wasn't a big deal.

"I told him after dinner that he should drop by today but he hasn't yet." Topanga explained to the group.

"Yeah, I meant to show up earlier but I got a bit lost." Brent said from the doorway, making Topanga jump slightly. "Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"Hi Brent." Riley said from her seat.

"Hey girls." He said with a small smile as he followed Topanga over to the counter, watching as she moved behind it so that she was on the same side as Katy who was making coffee.

"Was that an accent I heard?" Smackle asked eagerly.

"Smackle!" Farkle cried in disbelief.

"Don't panic, he's too old for me anyway." Smackle grinned teasingly at her genius of a boyfriend.

"And he's my brother." Riley added.

"You're bothered about Smackle hitting on your half-brother but you don't care that Maya has a thing for your Uncle Josh?" Zay questioned curiously.

"Josh is my Uncle, and sometimes he's three years older than Maya and sometimes he's two years older than her. Brent is my new brother and dad said he's nineteen." Riley butt in so that Maya wouldn't hurl an insult at Zay that she would later regret.

"So she can't hit on your brother because he's nineteen?" Lucas chuckled.

"And because he's my brother." She argued playfully.

"An age gap wouldn't be able to stop me." Smackle said with a laugh as she looked at the worried expression on Farkle's face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a small peck on the cheek, letting him know that she was still focused on being with him.

"The age gap stopped Maya and she's literally the strongest person we know." The group looked at her, all appearing sympathetic as the blonde scowled at Lucas for bringing it up.

"It didn't _stop_ me, Heehaw – me and Josh just let each other know that we're both planning to play the long game." Maya argued, folding her arms defensively.

"So in other words, it slowed you down." Zay said slowly.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Maya snapped at no one in particular. "Josh and I like each other and we're playing the long game because we're at different points in our lives right now-"

"Because of the age gap." Farkle cut in.

"Yeah, fine, because of the damn age gap." She gave up, rolling her eyes.

"Don't get mad peaches." Riley said comfortingly as she hugged her best friend. "If he likes you as much as he says he does, the long game won't be as long as you think it'll be." Maya looked as if she was about to reply when the two spotted Brent answering his phone, walking past them quickly so that he could talk to whoever outside.

"Wonder who he's talking to." Maya muttered to Riley. "Did you see that serious look on his face?"

"Yeah I did." Riley replied thoughtfully.

"It was hot."

"Maya." Riley groaned, breaking out into a fit of giggles moments after.

"You saw it too." Maya said as she playfully nudged Riley's shoulder. "I know you saw it so don't deny it, your brother's hot."

"But he's my brother-"

"Say it." Maya smirked mischievously. "Agree with me. Admit your half-brother's hot."

"Maya I'm not going to-"

"Say it."

"My brother's hot." Riley mumbled to Maya, making sure that Lucas and the others couldn't hear her.

"See Riles, I knew you'd agree with me." The blonde chuckled as they watched Brent re-enter the shop, looking a little tenser than he had done before. "Do you think he'll get along with Josh when they meet?"

"Of course." Riley said happily. "They're both cool – they can talk about cool older guy stuff."

"What happens if they don't like each other?" Maya asked.

"Peaches-"

"Best case scenario, they take off their shirts and fight." She continued, ignoring Riley's attempt to get her attention.

"Even better case, Lucas has to jump in and break it up – without a shirt." Riley commented cheekily as the two burst into a fit of snickers.

"What's happened to you two?" Lucas sighed sarcastically, grinning at his girlfriend and her best friend. "You used to be able to whisper, and I've never heard you talk like that before-"

"We save that talk for when it's just us girls, Huckleberry. We always talk about shirtless guys, don't we Riles?"

"Not _all_ the time." Riley said with a playful smile. "Sometimes we talk about movies like twilight and the notebook."

"I love that movie!" Zay piped up, much to Riley and Maya's amusement. "Y'all gotta stop staring at me like that. A guy can like the notebook too." He whined as the group all gave him knowing and surprised looks.

* * *

Brent hadn't stayed for long. In fact, he'd only stuck around long enough to have a short conversation with Topanga and Maya's mother, Katy Hart. He felt rude not staying and introducing himself to Riley's friends, but deep down he knew that he'd have to get some extra training in before his first American cage fight.

John Martin had bothered to actually call him – rather than just have Jacob pass the message on. He'd called him while he was at Topanga's and Brent couldn't help but feel his pre-fight tension building up as he noted down the address and password to enter on his phone shortly after. Brent always got tense before a fight. It built up gradually and then when he finally got in the cage the tension that was built up would explode, giving him an advantage over all of his opponents. The vicious, high-energy movements would always catch them off guard.

That was how Brent found himself in a rough part of Brooklyn once the sun had gone down, muttering a password to allow his entrance into the underground cage fighting club. He made his way down the stairs, hands in the front pockets of his black zip up hoodie as he admired the American cage.

The cage was a hexagon shape, with six steel walls that were at least seven feet high locking the two men that were currently brawling inside. There was no padding or anything surrounding the steel, and the mat inside the cage was far from new. In fact, marks that were mostly bloodstains covered the surface and Brent felt his entire body shiver in anticipation.

He took in a deep breath, noting how the place reeked of sweat and beer. Just like England but even more intense. People swarmed round the outside of the cage, shouting at the men inside, cheering them on and cussing them into oblivion. The place was packed and the lights were low, allowing an intense blood red spotlight to shine over the cage.

Brent was about to begin wading his way through the waves of people when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He turned instinctively, his hands appearing at his side suddenly, curled up into tight fists. The man that had planted a hand down on Brent's shoulder simply grinned from ear to ear, flashing his crooked white teeth. He seemed to be in his fifties, if the thinning grey hair on his head was anything to go by. The man also wore a black suit with the only splash of colour being his white tie – perhaps he owned the place.

"You look new kid, and you look like you're ready for a fight." The man said gruffly, squeezing Brent's shoulder even tighter. "You my new fighter? You Vagos, the kid I've been trying to get over here for a year now?"

"That's me." Brent replied through gritted teeth as he roughly pulled away from the tight grasp.

"Not very friendly." He commented, still grinning as he had been previously. "Name's John Martin, and you Mr Vagos, are up next."

"Do I get to know who I'm up against?" Brent asked, his voice deep as he watched the current fight, observing techniques that he hadn't seen often in England. The fight was going to be a challenge if the opponent had a fighting style that he hadn't yet seen or faced – but Brent supposed it went both ways. His opponent likely hadn't fought a fighter like Vagos before, and was in for a surprise.

"Kid's name is Angelo Derretti. Quite little, often the underdog. He's fast, likes to kick you in the everywhere and enjoys a good comeback." John said with a grunt. "Twelve wins under his belt, nine losses."

"It'll be ten losses after he gets in that cage with me." Brent muttered as John gripped his shoulder for a second time, moving down further towards the cage and pulling the British fighter along with him as he did so.

"Of course it will be. The legendary Vagos wouldn't let the fifty-four career wins get tainted by an amateur. The crowd won't know who you are unless they're all underground British cage fighting fans, so when they bet on little Angelo, we'll make a little money when you win." Brent listened to John half-heartedly as he watched one fighter leave the cage on his own two feet, leaving the other one to limp out with the aid of what was probably some sort of doctor.

"People don't know who I am?" Brent asked as he unzipped his jacket and shrugged it off, revealing the collection of tattoos on his arms and his back and chest. He hadn't bothered wearing a t-shirt underneath his hoodie – it would only end up stained if he ended up with an injury.

"That's the beauty of it kid." John smirked smugly as he held Brent's jacket. The British fighter was left standing in a pair of black tracksuit bottoms that allowed movement and a pair of black trainers that he'd have to take off before entering the cage. "No one really bets on the new guy in case he's shit. So we're gonna take advantage of that and you're gonna win for me. You'll get a generous cut."

"Good, because I'm currently unemployed."

"Our next fight is coming right up: Angelo Derretti taking on newcomer Vagos. Hurry up and get those bets placed, easy money ladies and gents, easy money!" An arrogant voice yelled into the speakers as Angelo Derretti entered the cage.

Brent's opponent Angelo Derretti was a pale, platinum blonde haired man that was around 5"10. Although his number of fights made him seem like a newcomer in Brent's mind, the man that was probably around his age entered the caged hexagon arrogantly; waving his arms around and shouting about how he was going to get the win in order to earn a few cheers from the crowd.

So he was a showman… Brent could work with that.

"Get in there kid. Show everyone you aren't easy money, show'em you mean business." John slapped Brent hard on the back, giving him a shove towards the cage. Brent kicked off his shoes – just like Angelo had done – and entered the cage barefooted.

The two stared each other down as they waited for bets to be placed. Derretti stood at the far side of the cage, opposite the entrance, leaving Brent to stand just in front of it so that they were across from each other.

He could feel the tension building up; ringing in his ears, threatening to snap, begging for release.

Then the bell went.

And all hell broke loose…

...

"Damn kid, look at poor little Angelo. He's still on the floor – they're gonna have to carry him outta there!" John howled with joy as Brent slipped his shoes back on and reclaimed his hoodie. The fight certainly wasn't the most challenging Brent had experienced, but the fighting style had been unorthodox and he hadn't had the chance to prepare for such a unique fighting style.

But still, he won. Vagos had claimed his first victory in the U.S, bringing his tally of victories up to fifty-five. Brent hadn't escaped injuries though. Angelo had got some good shots in. One of the worst hits Brent had taken was to his side, just below his ribs. That would be severely bruised and sore in the morning. Another one of the shots had been an elbow to the jaw – Brent could still feel the metallic tasting liquid that was spilling from the cut on his bottom lip.

"Dude, I lost count of how many people made bets with me." John continued, shoving his way through the crowd. "A lotta people had money on Derretti to win, so here's your pay for tonight my man – you earned it." Brent felt him slap a stack of what looked to be at least six hundred dollars in his hand.

The man was probably screwing him over and keeping loads more to himself but Brent was too chuffed to care. This was at least a hundred more than what he earned in England. In all honesty it was easy money, but it was a onetime thing. He'd only got in that cage to get rid of the craving that was eating away at him during the night.

But it felt so good. To be fighting again and earning money to top it all off. Maybe another fight as soon as he was healed up would be acceptable.

 _Just one more_.

Then he'd stop.

"Can you get me another fight in a couple of days?" Brent asked his new American manager as they approached the exit. John was probably going to stick around but Brent had no plans to. He just wanted to go back to the hotel and take a scalding hot shower so that the pain in his side wouldn't be so bad in the morning.

"You sticking around then?"

"Might as well. Don't book me any more fights after the next one though."

"Why not kid?" John asked, confused.

"I don't really know what I'm doing at the moment." Brent said with a deep sigh as he licked the cut on his lip. "Don't want to get too ahead of myself. One more fight and we'll see what happens from there."

"Get that bruise healed quickly kid!" John called after Brent as he began walking back the way he came. "We're gonna make some good money – me and Vagos – and its gonna start with getting you another fight you can win!"


	4. Real brother

A/N I feel like when I write Riley I dial her down a bit. I didn't realise that I had been doing that until like halfway through this chapter but writing her in a way that makes it look like she's maturing even more just feels natural. She might appear a bit out of character sometimes but it just happens.

Jrules19 – I see what you did there even if it was unintentional and I just had to reply because I don't get reviews that rhyme a lot of the time;)

Ay! Gone and got themselves a ship name Brent and Maya: Breya. That's cute – I like it. Certainly doesn't mean I'm promising or confirming anything yet though so sorry if I just got your hopes up :D

* * *

Chapter 4

Brent cringed as he examined the cut on his lip. What were the Matthews going to think if they noticed it? That along with how stiff he was due to the bruising on his side, just underneath his ribs. The hot shower hadn't done much and Brent had just had another one. He needed these injuries to heal – urgently.

They seemed like the type of family to pry, and if Riley's best friend noticed the cut or his stiffness she'd probably have a nickname for it. But the Matthews family wouldn't just ask for the sake of being nosey; they would ask because they would be concerned.

More concerned than Brent's mother had been when he had a cut on his face anyway. She'd never really mention it because she'd seen him in a state that was much worse when he first began fighting, and Brent appreciated her silence on the matter. His mother couldn't stop him from fighting – she'd tried and failed and therefore given up pressing the matter.

But now she was gone, and Brent no longer got the chance to hear her irritated sigh in the morning when he'd sit down at their small table with a black eye and a terrible posture that showed he was in pain. He would never again see her roll her eyes once she had examined the damage that she could see. Because she was no longer breathing. And that thought alone hurt Brent more than any injury he had ever sustained while fighting had done.

Brent's mother had never liked him fighting, but she had grown to accept it. When it came to his father and the rest of the Matthews family however… They really didn't need to know. That part of Brent's life was completely separate and none of them needed to know about his fighting.

They would probably think he was insane; think that he was too violent of a man to be around kids like Auggie and Riley. And they would be right in thinking that. Because when Brent got in the cage he was insane and he was violent – he was dangerous. Cory Matthews would never accept a guy like that around his family, even if the guy was his son.

He had two parts of his life.

The first part was the polite guy that had just found family that were willing to get to know him better.

The second part was a man that was _addicted_ to fighting in the cage.

Clearly, the two were very different – very separate. They had nothing to do with one another and Brent would do whatever it took to keep the two halves of his life as far away from each other as possible.

Blink. Blink.

 _Topanga Matthews: Hey Brent, Cory and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for breakfast this morning. We'll all be eating in 10 mins if you're awake and feel like dropping by._

Brent looked down at the text, considering whether he'd take up on the offer or not. His lip was still cut slightly and his walk was quite stiff due to the pain in his side but would he really let that stop him from spending time with Cory and the rest of the family?

Screw it. He quickly typed a reply saying that he'd be there in a bit and shrugged his leather jacket on over his dark grey muscle shirt. Brent also picked up his wallet before leaving, knowing that he'd probably head out for the day after having breakfast with the Matthews'.

He arrived at the Matthews' apartment around fifteen minutes later and couldn't help but wince slightly as he knocked on the door. The ache in side could really use some painkillers.

"Looking a bit rough there Big Ben." Maya Hart commented from beside him as she let herself in the Matthews' apartment and gestured for him to follow with a tip of her head. Brent simply gave her a smile – one that Maya noticed did not reach his eyes – as he waved back at an excited Auggie.

"Morning you two." Cory said as Brent and Maya took their seats around the table. Maya grabbed a bowl and immediately began filling it was the same cereal that Riley was eating and Brent watched as Auggie piled two waffles onto a plate, poured syrup over them and then passed the plate to Brent.

"Cheers Augs." Brent said with a chuckle as he grabbed a knife and fork and began tucking into what his younger half-brother had prepared him. "These are really good." He commented, smiling at Auggie.

"Thanks." Auggie replied with a huge grin as he devoured his own waffles. "Me and mom made them."

"So, Brent, have you got any plans for today?" Cory asked from his seat at the far end of the table.

"Well since I'm probably sticking around, I've decided that I'm gonna start looking for a job."

"A job?" Topanga asked in shock, smiling in approval as she began getting all her stuff together for work.

"Yep." Brent lied. He didn't want to lie to his father and the rest of the family but his plans were just to go to the gym and keep his fitness up for the next fight.

Telling them that he was job hunting gave Brent time to settle down in New York and also portrayed him in a positive light. He would start looking for a proper job after his _last_ fight in a few days because at the moment Brent had enough money in his bank accounts as well as what John had given him after the fight, meaning that he wasn't in urgent need of money at the current time.

"So where are you going to look – what type of job are you looking for?" Riley questioned quickly.

"I'm not looking for anything in particular." Brent replied with a shrug as he moved onto his second waffle. "I just want to start working towards getting a decent place."

"Still," Cory said. "That's a very responsible thing to do, especially when you've only been in New York for a couple of days."

"You hear that muscleman," Maya teased, unknowingly nudging his sore side with her arm. "You're a very responsible landmark." Brent winced slightly when he felt the pressure under his ribs but covered the pained expression with a grin swiftly, hoping that no one had seen him drop his guard for a moment.

"A responsible landmark with a cut on his lip." She muttered out of the corner of her mouth when the Matthews family began saying goodbye to Topanga, who was leaving for work. "How'd you get that, tough guy?"

"Cut it while shaving." Brent mumbled back, internally cringing at the lie and the fact that he was deceiving a girl that he was becoming close to in this new country.

"Doesn't look like a cut from a razor." She said, purposely nudging him in the ribs again to see his reaction. Maya had caught the wince the first time – she was far from stupid.

"How would you know?" Brent asked, keeping his expression neutral when she dug her elbow into his ribs intentionally. "You don't strike me as a girl that shaves her face blondie." Maya snorted in amusement, finally relenting and stopping her attack on his ribs.

"I've cut my legs while shaving enough times to know what a razor cut looks like Big Ben." She whispered carefully, making sure that Riley, Cory and Auggie couldn't hear her over their own conversation. "That is totally not a razor cut."

"Maybe we just use different razors. Why so suspicious sweetheart?"

"I'm doing my digging." Maya muttered bluntly before turning her head towards Riley and starting a conversation about something to do with school.

Brent rolled his dark green eyes at her antics but couldn't help feeling a little on edge. This girl was good. In fact, she'd seen right through his lie and that scared the hell out of him – because that lie was a bloody good lie. He'd told a lot worse before and gotten away with it anyway…

How long would he be able to lie to his father and the rest of the family without them suspecting something if the blonde beside him had already been able to notice changes after just one fight?

Keeping the two halves of him apart would prove to be even more of a challenge than he had anticipated. Fabulous.

"Brent are you going to come and see us tonight?" Auggie asked innocently from across the table. Brent gave Auggie a half-smile before turning to Cory to see if it was okay for him to visit again. As far as he knew he didn't have any plans until his next fight in the next couple of days, so he'd jump at the opportunity to get to know Cory, Topanga, Riley and Auggie more.

"Don't look to Matthews for permission muscleman. Just show up – I always do." Maya smirked.

"Oh my gosh, you can come round tonight and Maya and I can ask Lucas, Farkle, Smackle and Zay if they want to come over so they can get to know you." Riley said excitedly, ignoring the fact that Cory had just been about to speak before she beat him to it.

"I guess we can annoy your mom and order pizza on a Thursday." Cory said with a childish grin.

"Yeah. We can all hang out and you can talk to Lucas-"

"Ooooo, big brother of hers," Maya teased. "She wants you to get to know her boyfriend. You gonna get all protective, give him the talk and all that juicy stuff?"

"I don't really have the right to do that blondie." Brent shrugged as Cory frowned at his son. "This Lucas has been in Riley's life longer than I have and I'm sure he's a good guy – if he wasn't then you'd have already sorted it all out."

"You're right. I'd do anything to protect Riley."

"Exactly. So I don't need to do any of that because she's got her sister to do it all." He said, smiling an infectious smile that Maya couldn't help but mirror.

"You do have a right to be protective of your siblings Brent." Cory commented sternly. "You're Riley and Auggie's older brother – no one here cares if you're their half-brother or not. You are my son Brent, and they are your younger siblings."

"Yes!" Auggie cheered, dropping his fork down on his empty plate. "Dad made it official: you're my big brother. We can do all sorts of big brother stuff now that I can't do with Riley."

"Hey," Riley piped up looking mildly offended. "What are you going to do with Brent that you can't do with me? I thought we were close."

"We can talk about man stuff." Auggie argued, bringing up his arms and doing a stereotypical bodybuilder pose, showing off his arms that were covered by a polo shirt. "Me and Brent can talk about girls and action movies and sports-"

"You can talk about all that with me." Riley pouted.

"I know I can." Her little brother argued. "But Brent's a boy and he's my big brother and he's even old enough to have a car."

"So? I'm nearly old enough to drive!"

"Alright, alright, calm down." Cory said, putting a stop to the small dispute as Brent and Maya watched on with similar expressions of interest. "Auggie, you need to understand that Brent's starting a new life here and he can't start spending all his time around here with you."

"But he's cool and I want him to." Auggie sulked, crossing his arms.

"Hey, I'll try and spend as much time as possible with my little brother." Brent smirked at the boy, attempting to diffuse the situation before a proper argument broke out over the table.

"Riley, you've got to understand that Auggie's excited. He's finally got another guy in the house to look up to and this guy happens to be a big brother."

"Can't you do this in class Matthews? It's too early in the morning for a life lesson." Maya drawled humorously. Brent couldn't help but chuckle at the antics of the girl beside him.

"Don't laugh Big Ben. If you laugh I'll laugh and I'm trying to be serious."

"Sorry sweetheart – I'll keep my mouth sealed shut."

"No, Maya, he can't stop talking." Riley whined, the smile on her face reappearing after it had been wiped off during the small spat between herself and Auggie. "I'm trying to master the northern accent and if he doesn't talk then I can't repeat it in my head."

"You're trying to learn my accent?" Brent asked as he held back a laugh. "Why?"

"Because she likes accents tough guy." Maya explained, smirking her usual smirk. "And when she does get the accent down we'll have a northern Riley as well as the original British Riley."

"Can't wait to hear it."

* * *

It was funny, really. He'd come to meet and if the chance arose, get to know his father better. In reality Cory was the person that Brent was talking to least – and it didn't even feel like a bad thing. He really liked Cory's wife Topanga and the fact that she did her best to include and make a son that isn't even hers feel welcome in a new country.

Then there was Auggie and Riley – both were really nice people in their own regard and Brent smiled a lot around them; they had made him smile a lot more in days than he had done in the months after his mother had passed. The two just always seemed happy and it was almost infectious.

But then it went back to Cory. Sometimes he would be all for building a relationship with the son that he must have forgotten about long ago, but other times he seemed slightly guarded; a little hesitant.

Perhaps it was just because Cory Matthews was protective of the family that he clearly loved. Yes, that was it, Brent thought to himself as he climbed into the taxi and gave the address of the Matthews' apartment to the driver. He'd only gone back to his hotel so that he could shower after the long session at the gym after lunch. School must have been over by now and so Brent decided that he'd show up before dinner.

When he arrived it was awfully quiet. Auggie answered the door, jumping at his older brother and hugging him, placing his head on Brent's stomach as he couldn't get any higher. Brent chuckled slightly and looked up to see Cory who had just returned home from work. Topanga was nowhere to be seen, probably busy in the office or at Topanga's helping out Katy.

"You're early." Cory said with a smile as Auggie released Brent and pulled him over to sit with Cory on the couch.

"Better to be early than to be late." Brent shrugged in reply, looking over the head of Auggie who was seated in the middle.

"Words to live by." He replied. "So I was meaning to ask you what happened to your lip – it looked a bit swollen earlier even though it's gone down a bit now."

"Maya asked me the same question when she saw it; I cut it while shaving last night and the cut must have been pretty bad." Brent repeated the lie, feeling confusingly more comfortable lying to his father than when he lied to Maya. Maybe it was just 'a boy doesn't feel as bad lying to dad because kids were supposed to lie to their parents sometimes' type of thing.

"You shave your face?" Auggie asked. "When do I get to start shaving dad – I wanna shave." He said eagerly.

"When you grow some hair on your face." Cory answered, giving Brent a look that clearly said look what you've done.

"When am I gonna start growing hair on my face?"

"When you're in secondary school and hit puberty." Brent chipped in with a smug grin as he glanced up from Auggie to see Cory still looking at him like he was blaming Brent for continuing the discussion on the subject.

"But that's ages away." Auggie whined.

"It'll come sooner than you think it will,"

"Because as you get older, life moves faster." Cory said truthfully, finishing off Brent's statement.

"Does life ever slow down?" Brent asked his father, leaning back so that he was resting one arm on the couch while waiting for an answer.

"It hasn't for me." Cory replied and as if one queue Riley entered from the direction of her bedroom, followed by Maya; then by Farkle, and then by Lucas. Just as the four of them entered the living area the front door opened and Zay and Smackle entered also, the former heading straight for the kitchen.

"Hey grease lightning." Maya said with a smirk, clearly enjoying the fact that Brent was wearing his leather jacket, unknowingly giving her an opportunity to use another one of her many nicknames.

"Hey blondie, hi Riley." Brent said as the four friends all stood in a line (Zay with a bowl of cereal) waiting to be introduced.

"Brent these are my best friends." Riley said happily as she took hold of Lucas's hand. "This is Lucas – my boyfriend. That's Farkle, that's Zay eating our cereal, and that's Smackle." Farkle? Smackle? Who named these kids? The most unique name that Brent had ever come across in England was probably Chantelle, but hey, who was he to judge?

"Hi, I'm Farkle. Farkle Minkus." Farkle said as he walked round to the front of the couch and held out his hand, taking in a sharp breath when Brent rose and shook his hand with a firm grip. "And you're more intimidating than the seniors at school…" He trailed off nervously, looking up so that he could see Brent's face instead of his chest.

"I was gonna say Brent Lawson but yeah, that too." Brent said with an amused smirk.

"Don't lie, Lawson. You're a big ball of nice and polite with a bad boy exterior." Maya chuckled, folding her arms.

"You caught me Hart." Brent grinned. "It's very nice to meet you Farkle and its nice meeting you three as well."

After the generally awkward introductions that everyone managed to get through by cracking jokes, Mr. Matthews and Auggie left to go and pick up the pizza that they were having for tea, leaving Brent and the teens alone so they could get to know each other better.

"So you're in a relationship, and you're in a relationship." Brent frowned in concentration, gesturing towards Lucas and Riley then to Farkle and Smackle. "You have a thing for Josh Matthews – who's supposed to be my uncle even though he's younger than me by at least a couple of months; that's not weird at all…" He said to Maya, ending his sentence sarcastically as he looked to Zay who had long since finished his bowl of cereal and was now drinking a glass of milk. "And you've had a thing going with a girl called Vanessa but she's in Texas."

"You're making it seem like our love lives are hard to comprehend." Smackle commented.

"Well they are." Brent argued. "And I bet you've all left loads of stuff out about your relationships that would confuse me even more-"

"Like the fact that Riley, Maya, and Lucas were part of a triangle at one point." Farkle cut in, getting a quick glare from both girls that were mentioned.

"Oh you're having a bloody laugh…"

"But it's all sorted now." Riley said cheerfully. "Lucas picked and Josh admitted that he had feelings for Maya and was going to play the long game."

Brent looked at Maya. She was smiling, trying to make it look like she was one hundred percent happy for her best friend. But there was this tiny glint in her eyes that one would miss if they didn't look close enough. She may have had feelings for Josh, however there was still a small part of her that hadn't gotten over the fact that Lucas and Riley were together yet.

So to hear Riley broadcast that Lucas had picked and it hadn't been her… In Brent's opinion, deep down, it must have stung. Maya was putting on a brave face and Brent couldn't help but wonder how long the carefully built walls would stay up for.

"So Brent, do you have a girlfriend?" Lucas questioned, filling the silence that followed Riley's statement.

"Not at the moment, no." He replied, scratching the side of his face awkwardly.

"But you've been in a relationship before?" Riley asked, hoping to get to know more about Brent and his life before coming to America.

"A few." Brent muttered in reply, regretting his answer when Maya smirked slyly.

"A few, huh?" Maya said as her ocean blue eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. "Don't start giving us short answers Big Ben – give us a number."

"You asked for it." He mumbled. "So are we talking about official boyfriend/girlfriend type of thing or are we including girls I've been with and been in the process of getting with as well?"

"List their names." She answered bluntly.

"Jesus Christ – Becca, she was a girlfriend. Leah and I just sort of had a thing. I suppose Courtney counts because we were talking and doing stuff together but we weren't even official before things ended. Then there was a short thing with Ellie, and then a short thing with Kyra a little bit after. There was Chantelle – we were in a serious relationship but we broke up a couple of months ago shortly after my mum passed away."

"She broke up with you after your mom passed away?" Zay asked and Brent nodded as he looked down at his interlocked fingers. "Man, that's one cold hearted chick right there."

"You don't have to answer this," Riley started as the other five looked on quietly. "But why did the two of you break up?"

"After I lost my mum I needed an emotional crutch you know, and I had no other family and I thought oh, well, my girlfriend's going to be there for me-"

"But she wasn't." Maya cut in softly.

"She was at first." Brent corrected. "But then after a couple of weeks she started complaining – saying I was depressed and boring; the relationship wasn't good for her anymore and this, that and the other."

"What else did she expect?" Lucas asked with a deep frown. "You'd just lost your mom, of course you were going to be down."

"Exactly." Brent agreed, cracking a strained smile. "So I say good riddance to the bitch because she clearly didn't care about anyone but herself anyway."

"Didn't it make you even more, sad, that your girlfriend left after what happened to you?" Smackle asked, awkwardly throwing the word sad in there as she was still getting used to the whole emotion side of things.

"Not really. I was angry though, a lot of the time." Brent said, ignoring the feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket. "Felt like the world was screwing me over and whatnot – it didn't make me a pleasant guy to be around."

"But that only happened to you recently and you seem fine now." Riley said in a tone of confusion.

"I got over it when I found out that my mother left me information that I'd been wanting for years – stuff about my father and where to find him and who he is and all that. My friend Jacob kind of had my back as well and so I started looking and here I am." Brent grinned at the teens before continuing. "I'm happier now than I have been in years, and it kind of levels out all the bad stuff that happened in England."

There was happiness with the Matthews family and their friends, and there was also the fact that he was fighting again, letting out all the negative emotions on opponents and getting money for it. Brent definitely wasn't going to tell Riley and her friends about the second part of his life though. Even if it helped him remain content.


	5. Quite bruised

A/N Rucas being endgame – your guess is as good as mine haha, I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

I'm going to give a general warning and say that there's quite a bit of swearing in this chapter. It's pretty much on the verge of a rating change but I'm leaving it at T for the moment.

So I'd like to just quickly thank everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed this story so far. I love knowing that people are actually interested in this little plot bunny. Lastly, let's keep the reviews up for this chapter – reading them is always the highlight of my day:)

* * *

Chapter 5

It was the night after Brent had spent time with Riley's friends, meaning it was the night before Brent would be checking out of the hotel.

Checking out so soon was a slight issue as he'd been viciously thrown into the cage walls mere hours ago and his back felt as if it had been attacked by wasps. The skin was a raw shade of red and it stung terribly. So the fact that he was going to be staying with the Matthews as of tomorrow worried him, because it would be easier for them to work out that something was going on in his life.

He sighed deeply, doing his best to push away the stinging sensation as he thought about the seven hundred and forty dollars on the bedside table. The win made him feel satisfied and even though Brent had told John on his way out that he wasn't planning to fight anymore; John had said that Vagos would be back in the cage within a month. Knowing Brent and his cravings, it would probably end up being a week.

Brent just couldn't help it. He was addicted to the cage and the money that came along with it wasn't exactly a terrible bonus.

Before getting into bed, Brent packed most of his clothing and items, preparing himself for the next day and the fact that he was expected to checkout at ten. He figured he would have to get up early and leave before that time as he wanted to be at his father's place before the whole family left the house – it was a Thursday after all, and they all had things to do that didn't involve Brent.

The next day, Brent packed the rest of his items and left the hotel early. He head straight for the apartment of his new family and waited outside nervously with his suitcase after he knocked on the door.

This was it. He was moving in with his new family.

* * *

Five days passed smoothly. Brent had soon become settled in the Matthews home and made sure to thank Cory and Topanga for their hospitality as often as he could. As he was staying temporarily and had begun his house hunting, Brent repeatedly told the family that the couch was fine, not wanting to cause any trouble.

He hadn't been in touch with John or Jacob, knowing that if he spoke to either of them they'd drag him back to the American cage for another fight. It was best if Brent kept his mind off all things Vagos for the sake of the relationships that he was building with his family, because they would likely not know how to handle such information about a second part of his life.

In all honesty, staying with the Matthews family was certainly an enlightening experience. Cory's daily life lessons and advice wasn't easy to escape from; so Brent had just given up trying to run from them and chose to listen to his father whenever the talks began.

He also learned that Riley's best friend Maya practically lived in the apartment, as he had run into her countless times when he had no idea she was even around. The sarcastic blonde had a certain knack for popping up everywhere – not that Brent was complaining – and she always seemed to brighten his day with her comments and nicknames.

When the sun rose on the sixth day, Brent finally began to struggle.

The craving was back. It was strong; it was unrelenting and it was like an internal itch that wouldn't go away. The temptation was unbelievably irritating and Brent found that he couldn't sit still.

When he was sitting on the couch both of his legs would be bouncing up and down and even if he managed to dial that down when people were around, he would still be incredibly on edge when speaking.

Eventually he cracked. The pressure and the craving was all too much and before Brent could even stop himself he had already rung John.

" _Well, well, well, look who's come crawlin' back."_

"Yeah, go on, take the piss as much as you want."

" _I bet a month and you didn't even last a week kid. Gotta admit here – I'm a little disappointed in myself. Normally my bets are bang on."_

"I need you to book me a fight."

" _Guessed that bit. When do you want one?"_

"As soon as possible I suppose."

" _Well… How does tonight sound? Some of the guys around here have been asking me where you've been after your last scrap. Sooner you come in, sooner we cash in again."_

"Yeah, I'll be there tonight. What type of guy are you putting in there with me?"

" _Twenty two wins, ten losses. Tall guy – at least six foot, maybe a little bigger. From what I've seen of the dude he's a bit of a grappler. Doesn't kick unless he needs to because those legs of his will probably get caught, you get what I'm sayin' here?"_

"Hear you loud and clear. I can beat him – I'll square up but take advantage of speed. Speed along with how hard I hit will definitely soften him up. I'm gonna go for the knock out tonight so have people put their money where you want accordingly."

" _You sure you're going for a knock out kid? He's a big guy, doesn't get put to sleep often."_

"What's that saying John? You know, the one about being big and falling?"

" _Ah, the bigger they are…"_

"The harder they fall."

" _You really are a little comedian, aren't you?"_

"I try."

The line went dead and Brent smiled to himself as he made his way over to his suitcase. It wasn't until he had gotten changed and told Cory that he was going out for a walk until the guilt kicked in. Brent had lied to his father and although it was for the best he still didn't like being dishonest with a family that was nothing but truthful with him.

But it was for the best, he thought to himself as he threw the hood of his black hoodie over his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. The Matthews' would only be disappointed – they would only be hesitant if they found out what Brent was currently doing to satisfy his cravings.

God. He was a bad person. In fact, he was a terrible person. But those thoughts didn't stop him from fighting. Those thoughts never had.

"Well if it isn't my favourite fighter!" John called when he spotted Brent removing his hood while he watched the fight that was taking place in the cage currently.

"John." Brent acknowledged the presence of the man dressed in all black but didn't move as he analysed the fight taking place within the steel walls.

"Good focus kid, good focus." John said, patting Brent on the shoulder a few times. "So you still gonna get the knock out for me tonight?"

"Of course." Brent replied gruffly as he unzipped and shrugged off his hoodie.

"Good, good. Because even though you've won two fights here you've not got yourself a badass reputation yet. The dude you're fighting is the favourite to win, little does he know…" John trailed off with a cocky chuckle. "Lot of bets not heading your way tonight – lot of money for us."

"Great."

"Great." John repeated. "Now get in there and kick some ass kid."

And so he did. Brent was gone the moment he stepped inside the cage. Vagos had arrived and the fight was nothing less than brutal. Both sides ended up with more injuries fingers and when all was said and done, Vagos was limping out of the cage, leaving a man lying on the floor unconscious in his wake.

John had to help Brent put his hoodie back on and after finding a way to support the fighter's weight, he was able to carry his client up the stairs and up to the exit.

"You got that knock out, you did good in there." John said as he shoved what had to be at least a thousand dollars into the front pocket of Brent's zip up hoodie.

"I did good?" Brent questioned incredulously as he spat the blood that had been building up in his mouth on the floor. "Look at the state of me John, Jesus Christ."

 **The injury count stood at:**

 **A huge wound on his inner left cheek from when he had accidently bitten down on it after a bone shattering punch to his jaw – which would soon bruise a lovely purple shade once the redness faded.**

 **A gash along Brent's hairline from when he had been shoved head first into one of the cage walls multiple times. It wasn't a deep wound but it was big enough to have blood running from it, making the right side of his face and his ear a crimson colour.**

 **Scratches and small cuts all the way up his arms and back, some bleeding slightly and others just being red.**

 **A bruised left knee that Brent couldn't help but limp on.**

 **And finally, what was likely a sprained wrist. It could have been fractured for all Brent knew.**

Did this total up towards a trip to the hospital? Absolutely not. He'd limp home, find some ice and then hide out in the bathroom so that he could clean the gash on his head and inspect the cut inside his mouth.

That was exactly what Brent did, and he was happy to find that no one was still up when he entered the home with the key that Cory had given him when he had moved in for a while. After routing around the freezer for some ice, Brent locked himself in the bathroom and positioned himself in front of the sink.

He looked like a mess.

The dried blood on his face was the first to go and the ice stayed on his stiffening knee as he spat more blood into the sink and washed it down. Pushing away the pain in his wrist, Brent took off his hoodie and threw it in the bath/shower so that he could see how all the scratches were doing. In all honesty, they looked far from pretty but he'd seen a lot worse.

Just as Brent spat another mouthful of blood into the sink, there was a light knock on the bathroom door and he internally panicked, even though the door was locked. What was he going to do? Even when he put his hoodie back on he still appeared run down and hurt.

Crap. It wasn't like he could pretend he wasn't in here.

Another knock, this one slightly louder than the first.

Well shit.

He sighed, putting the ice that was on his knee on the counter beside the sink before limping over to the door and unlocking it. Brent opened the door slowly, knowing that he was done for no matter which Matthews was behind the door.

"Maya." Brent said in surprise when he looked down slightly to see the blonde looking half-awake as she waited to get in the bathroom. He felt relief wash over him like a tidal wave. It wasn't Cory or Topanga or Riley or even Auggie. It was Maya, the girl that always seemed to be around.

"You look like shit." Maya drawled sleepily, taking in the way that Brent's knee was slightly bent and the fact that he had what looked awfully like a cut on the side of his head.

"I feel like shit." He said as he began step around her.

"You gonna tell me why you look like you've been hit by a car or are you just going to walk away like this never happened?" She commented bluntly as she entered the bathroom and picked up the ice that Brent had left beside the sink.

"Walk away." Brent said honestly as Maya threw the ice at him while he stood in the shadows of the doorway.

"Don't start being an ass because you got caught muscleman."

"I'm only walking away because I don't want to talk." He said with a shrug, frowning as the blood started to build up in his mouth again.

"Then you don't have to talk." She smirked, knowing that she had backed him into a corner as she gestured for him to come back inside and sit on the side of the bath. Brent simply gave up, clearly not in the mood to argue as he shut the bathroom door behind him. "You know that I'm not going to stop asking you about this until I get a real answer though, don't you?"

"I do, unfortunately." Brent deadpanned as he moved the ice to a comfortable position on his wrist. She sighed in annoyance as she grabbed a small purple towel and began running it under the warm water of the tap. Brent couldn't help but frown, watching the blonde as she approached him and began dabbing at the gash along his hairline that he'd wiped most of the blood off of earlier.

"That's a nice looking bruise coming in on your cheek there." Maya commented, knowingly poking it slightly and chuckling to herself as he cringed at the pain. "What else is hurting?"

Brent didn't know whether to answer her question or not, knowing that the less injuries she knew of, the better it would be for an explanation that he would have to give her in the future.

"The cut on my head, the bruise, there's a cut inside my mouth that's bleeding pretty badly, my knee's bruised, my wrist is probably sprained and then I've got a couple of scratches on my arms and back." He answered honestly. When it came to Maya, honesty was the best policy; she seemed to be able to pick up on his lies effortlessly and Brent had no idea what she'd do if he lied to her right now.

"Your dad's going to notice tomorrow. You do know that, right?" She muttered, sitting down on the edge of the bath beside him as she lightly pressed the wet towel into the large cut.

"Would you tell them if I lied to them?"

"Probably."

"Maya, if-" Brent swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of the vulnerability that laced his tone. "If I told you a secret, would you let me lie?"

What was wrong with him right now?

His brain was screaming at him, telling him to get up and shut up. But he couldn't do either – his body wouldn't let him as it made the most of the way that she softly pressed the warm towel against his hairline.

"I thought that you'd have noticed by now that the Matthews are pretty much family to me. Why do you think I would lie to them?" Maya asked coldly as she moved the towel to wipe away a patch of blood that had started to leak over his lip.

"You don't have to lie sweetheart. All I'm asking is that you don't tell them the truth." He muttered quietly, watching the conflict flash over her face repeatedly.

"I could only tell them you're lying – I won't know the truth unless you tell me." She sighed, getting up from where she sat and moving over to the sink so that she could wash the towel. "If you tell me the truth – and it _has_ to be the whole truth because you're a terrible liar – I'll consider keeping it to myself."

"Come on Maya, please-"

"Tell me the secret then, right now."

"Okay." Brent said as she sat back down beside him. "Put your hand inside the pocket of my jacket and pull out what's in there."

This was it. The moment when he was going to let the two sides of his life collide. No pressure…

No pressure whatsoever.

Maya frowned in confusion, staring at him with those entrancing ocean blue eyes of hers until she realised he was being serious. She put her hand in his pocket and her frown deepened even further when she looked down to see what was at least a thousand dollars in her hand.

"Are you freaking serious right now?" She shouted in a fierce whisper. "What did you do? Did you rob a store or something?!"

"Of course not!" He whispered back in a tone that was probably the darkest she had ever heard. "Bloody hell, as if you thought that."

"Well what else am I supposed to think?" Maya snapped as she pushed the pile of money back inside his pocket. Brent opened his mouth to retort, but when he found that he had no answer, he closed it slowly as he looked down in shame.

"I won and I got paid – I didn't rob a shop or anything like that." He mumbled. All the hostility had evaporated and now all Maya was left with was a damaged guy with what she guessed to be a secret that he didn't want anyone knowing.

"So you," And then it all clicked into place for Maya. The first time she met him, he had spoken about getting into fights at school. So he'd gotten into a fight in New York, right? "You got into a fight?"

"Kind of, yeah." Brent answered.

"Don't tell me anything else – you don't have to, I don't need to know right now." Well thank god for that. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders and she finally understood that he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe Vagos and the cage would remain a secret after all. "I won't tell them or hint you're lying when you tell them whatever you decide to tell them."

"Thank you." He said softly as he got up and spat another load of blood into the sink.

"Don't expect me to be so nice again though Big Ben – this is a onetime thing." Maya commented in her usual drawl, standing up and folding her arms as she watched him critically. "How's that knee of yours doing?" She asked with a devilish smirk.

"Hurts like a bitch."

"Aw, that's too bad, tough guy." She teased, and before Brent had the chance to react she lightly kicked his bruised knee.

"Jesus." He swore under his breath as he cringed in pain. To be honest, Brent kind of deserved the pain. Even if it was just Maya teasing him. He'd asked her not to tell her best friend the truth so he'd take all the hits the blonde threw at him.

"I'm sorry." She giggled slightly, wrapping her arms around his waist lightly so that she could give him a quick hug. "It's just really tempting." And with that she poked his cheek again and Brent knew that Maya felt his whole body stiffen in response to the touch.

"You're loving this, aren't you?"

"Totally." She replied with one of her infamous smirks as she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom. "We're gonna get you some ice for your face while you tell me what happened to the other guy."

"Maya, I really don't-"

"Tell me." Maya demanded, kicking his knee again.

"Ow, shitting hell." He cursed when he felt pain shoot through his knee. "I don't really know much – just, that it finished when I knocked him out." Brent muttered as she sat him down on the bench at the table and began quietly looking through the freezer for more ice.

"I'm not even surprised. I mean, you look like that and you said you won so that guy must have been a total mess." She said, throwing an ice pack at him as she shut the freezer door.

"Cheers." Brent said as he caught it with his free hand and held the pack up to the blackening bruise on the side of his face.

"That's what you say when you all toast with your glasses Big Ben – cheers." Maya teased as she sat down beside him, resting one elbow on the table so that she could place her head on her hand for support.

"It also means thank you."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed."

"So," Brent started. "On a scale of one to ten, how fucked up is my face right now?"

"Solid seven." Maya smirked.

"And how bad is it on a normal day?" He asked, baiting her unintentionally.

"You know what," She said with a fake yawn. "I've gotta get back to bed, Riley's probably woken up and she'll start freaking out 'cause I'm not there-"

"Avoiding the question sweetheart." Brent teased as she stood up and started walking back in the direction of her best friend's bedroom.

"I think you know as well as I do why I'm not going to answer that muscleman." Maya said with a grin, waving as she disappeared from Brent's line of sight.

Well…

Life just got a whole lot more interesting – and he really needed to get his own place.


	6. Breaking point

A/N Just making it clear that this fic doesn't follow what happens in season three. It just kind of goes its own way.

Also, before people get annoyed with this and me, I'm not bashing anyone specific in this but there will be points where arguments take place and characters become hostile. Why? Because this is my writing, and I can do what Disney can't ;) so this story isn't just sunshine and rainbows. It has lower points to it as well.

* * *

Chapter 6

"Brent, what happened?!"

Cory Matthews was in distress. He'd panic once a week but distress was a whole new level. That was what he felt when looking at the purple cheek of his nineteen year old son as he and Topanga entered the kitchen that morning.

"Got into a bit of a scuffle on my walk – nothing to worry about." Brent forced a chuckle as he adjusted his white t-shirt and sat down on the bench. The seating arrangement was permanent now, with Brent sitting next to Maya and opposite Auggie when the two appeared with Riley.

"It looks like whoever you were fighting with got you good." Topanga commented as Cory continued to gape as he stared at the large bruise.

"Trust me, he looked a lot worse."

"I'm sure he did." Topanga said as she set the table ready for breakfast. "Cory, stop staring like that, you're making him uncomfortable." She muttered, whacking her husband on the arm when she walked past him.

"Ow, Topanga." Cory whined.

"Man up." Topanga laughed in response as Cory sat down at the table. "Look at Brent's face – you hardly have a right to whine." Brent couldn't help but laugh when Cory glared playfully at his wife. The latter opened his mouth to retort but another voice cut in before he could do so.

"Good morning." Riley said happily as she walked in with Maya in tow.

"That bruise has come up nice." The blonde snickered, taking her usual seat next to Brent. "You know, muscleman, I think Riley has a top that would match perfectly with that – they're literally the same colour." She smirked smugly, poking the side of his face with her index finger just as she had done the night before. Brent winced in pain and clenched his fists, causing his injured wrist to ache as he did so.

"So," Cory started flatly. "How did you manage to get into a fight while you were out?"

"Well I was walking around and there was this guy and he was clearly harassing this elderly man, so I got involved and told the guy to back off, then well…" Brent trailed off, using his non-injured hand to point to the large bruise on his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brent noticed Maya's eyebrow twitch as she listened to his short explanation. She clearly knew that he was lying because how could he win a load of cash from that?

"That was the right thing to do, getting involved," Cory said before moving to address the whole table. "But we all need to remember that fighting isn't always the answer. Fighting rarely solves problems; it usually just causes more."

"How's that knee doing, tough guy?" Maya asked, kicking the bruised knee that she had targeted twice the night before.

"Hurting again thanks to you." He replied through gritted teeth as they all tucked into their food, not waiting for Auggie to appear because everyone except for Brent (who left before he went to bed) knew that the youngest Matthews wasn't feeling too well and was probably going to sleep in.

"Peaches, how do you know about Brent's face and knee?" Riley asked suspiciously in her usual chipper tone.

"We bumped into each other when I went to the bathroom Riles." Maya shrugged in reply, watching as Cory's eyes darted from Brent and then back to her again repeatedly.

"No."

"What?" Brent frowned.

"Just, no." Cory repeated, looking to Topanga for a moment before focusing his gaze back on his son. "Absolutely, no."

"Is he okay?" Maya asked Topanga and Riley, her brows knitted in confusion.

"I ask myself that question all the time." Topanga sighed before giving Maya a comforting smile.

"Wait," Brent cut in. "Are you seriously-"

"Brent, what's going on?" Maya rolled her eyes in frustration, poking his cheek to get his attention because he was staring at Cory like the older man was crazy.

"He thinks-"

A fake cough from Cory cut Brent off.

"Cory, you're my father, I wouldn't jeopardise-"

"Would one of you please tell the rest of us what's happening?" Riley whined impatiently, pouting at her father.

"You wouldn't jeopardise that and you won't." Cory said flatly. Brent knew that his father was simply drawing the line, but in front of Topanga, Riley and Maya… That was quite harsh.

"If you do," Cory said simply, pointing to the front door. "You're out."

"And I respect your decision but that won't happen." Brent replied.

"As long as we're clear..." Cory's tone was full of warning that only his oldest son understood.

"Crystal." Brent said deeply.

"Not crystal! Not crystal!" Riley shouted. "You both can't start talking like undercover spies – we all need to know what's going on!"

"Yeah come on Matthews, you've got us all intrigued." Maya drawled calmly.

"The conversation's over – moving on." Cory said, looking at Topanga with pleading eyes. Topanga simply sighed once more before initiating a new conversation.

"Well, Maya, your birthday's coming up soon," She started, watching both teens deflate as the topic moved on. "Are you planning on doing anything with Katy and Shawn, or your friends?"

"Nothing's planned at the moment." Maya answered, finally coming to terms with the fact that Cory wouldn't share any details. Maybe she could corner Brent later and kick his knee until he told her what they were talking about. She smirked deviously at the idea, telling herself that she'd do that later.

"We need to plan something Maya." Riley said excitedly. "It's gonna be your sweet sixteen – we can't just do nothing."

"You're right." Maya grumbled slightly at the thought of organising a massive party but knew deep down that her best friend would probably do most of the organising for her.

"What even is this sweet sixteenth thingy?" Brent asked, looking incredibly confused. "Like, we've heard of it in England but we don't really do anything – normally whoever's turning sixteen just has a house party."

"Look at his confused little face." Maya cooed sarcastically, poking his bruised cheek for the second time since she'd sat down. "Look how cute it is Riles." She smirked as she and Riley both burst out into laughter, missing the way that Cory shot Brent a threatening warning glare.

"A sweet sixteen is a milestone." Riley said dreamily once she and Maya had calmed down. "I can see mine in the distance now, slowly approaching with all the rainbows and sparkles."

"Mine is _not_ going to be like that." Maya said sternly. "I don't even know if I want a party or anything – it all just looks like a lot of effort."

"You've got to do something to celebrate." Topanga encouraged. "You only turn sixteen once."

"You only turn any age once." Brent muttered. "But you should still have a party – it's a good excuse to get a load of people together, and it'll just be a good time with music and alco-"

Another disapproving glare from Cory made Brent cut himself off. His father had obviously woken up on the wrong side of bed this morning. He just couldn't win with the guy.

"Is that what your sixteenth birthday was like Big Ben? Getting drunk with people while there's music on?"

"Basically." Brent replied, not going into any detail about the people who were in his house smoking and passing around weed. Those facts alone were enough to get more than just a glare from Cory.

"You're such a bad liar." Maya groaned.

"That was pretty much all that happened." Brent said, raising his arms in surrender when Maya twisted fully to face him. She was giving him a glare that a lot of her friends and people at school would be slightly intimidated by. Brent wasn't worried in the slightest though; he wasn't easily scared and although the blonde was fierce, the blue fire in her eyes only made her even hotter…

Not that Brent would admit that.

Ever.

Cory would kill him. Everyone would kill him.

Because Maya Hart was off-limits.

Very off-limits. Because she was young, had the most perfect flaws and should be with someone that was her age. She truly deserved someone that was one hundred times better than Brent. In other words: Maya was way out of his league.

"What aren't you telling us?" She asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Jesus, blondie, it's not really something that needs to be shared." Brent rolled his eyes, hissing in pain as she booted his knee under the table.

"Tell me," Maya growled, grabbing the front of his t-shirt like she had done to Lucas many times before. She pulled Brent down to her height, so that they were eye to eye and inches away from each other.

Brent didn't even need to look to his left to know that Cory was probably on the verge of exploding. His father had clearly said no, and here he was, his face inches away from hers.

"Maya, it isn't really something you mention to new family."

"Tell me, or I will break you." She threatened, tightening her grip on his shirt.

"Really now?" His eyebrow twitched in amusement and so did the corner of his lips. "How do you plan on doing that? Because I don't think you can break something that's already broken."

The intensity in Maya's fiery blue eyes faded within seconds, and a softer, calming sparkle surfaced almost immediately. It was part of their thing – their understanding of one another. She knew all too well what it was like to admit that she was broken; the strength that it took and the feelings that came along with the constant shatter point.

"You're so alike that it's getting scary." Riley commented as Maya's grip on his shirt loosened gradually.

"So what weren't you telling us?" Maya asking, biting her bottom lip and watching as Brent's mossy eyes focused on it for a second too long.

"We listened to house music and rap, we drank cheap vodka and downed bottles of cider, we passed around cigarettes and a lot of people were on weed. Happy now?" Brent prayed internally that she'd say yes. Because that was mostly the truth without him going into any more painful details. That was the first night he'd started spending time with a girl called Ellie and there was no way in hell that he was going to tell Maya as well as his family about that.

"I'm ecstatic." The blonde said dryly, smirking as she let go of his wrinkled t-shirt.

"Before you kick me out, that was very normal where I grew up. It happened at literally every house party." Brent said to Cory and Topanga.

"Your mother let you grow up in that environment?" Cory asked, both shock and irritation in his tone.

"She did the best she could."

"Well it clearly wasn't much considering you were growing up around drugs." Cory snapped in frustration.

"Don't start disrespecting my mother." Brent snapped back.

The two were staring each other down heatedly and it was evident that this was going to be the first blow up. In all honesty, Brent had expected a reaction like this when he first appeared.

"My mother worked her arse off trying to provide for me on her own because she never had any help from _you_ or anyone else." Brent spat as Cory rose from his seat, readying himself for conflict.

"She was stubborn, Brent." Cory said forcefully, ignoring Topanga's muttering asking him to calm down. "She left, she never had contact-"

"Because she didn't want to get in the way of you being with the love of your life!" Brent shouted.

Maya and Riley both sat with wide eyes as they watched the argument, not knowing how to intervene or what to say if they did.

"She said she'd ruined your life enough and didn't want to ruin it anymore! Yes, she had her flaws and wasn't around as much as I needed her to be growing up. But that's life!"

"She told you that?" Cory was laughing. He actually had the audacity to laugh and Brent could feel his fists clenching in anger. The woman was dead and he was actually laughing.

"Are you sure you're in the right place? The woman I knew is nothing like you're describing here-"

"Dad!" Riley shouted, the look of shock on her face. Cory was always calm and collected when it came to words. What was happening to him?

"I'm talking about a woman who did her best to provide for her son, sacrificing her time with him so that she could put a roof over his head. I'm talking about the woman that would never even give me the _name_ of my father – even when I begged for it – because she didn't want to hurt your family any more than she already had!"

"She let you grow up around drugs-"

"You don't have any right to talk about the way I grew up BECAUSE YOU WERE NEVER THERE!"

"That was you mother's fault, not mine!" Cory shouted, pointing his finger at Brent to emphasise his point.

"That's what you've done for all these years? Blame it on her?" Brent bellowed back at him. "You didn't even bother to leave – you were never there in the first place! 'Brent, he was a very good man. Brent, he may have been with me intimately but his heart was forever with the girl he was head over heels in love with'. I've grown up believing that about someone I didn't even know the name of and you've bloody well disappointed me!"

"I've disappointed you?" Cory laughed, more darkly than even Topanga had ever heard him laugh. "Imagine the disappointment I felt when I opened that god damn door!"

"Cory!" Topanga shrieked, getting the attention of the two furious, raging men. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Cory spluttered in disbelief. "Are you-are you being serious right now?"

"You're shouting about his dead mother!" Topanga argued heatedly, allowing her Amazon warrior side to surface briefly.

"You knew her Topanga – you knew what she was like. She manipulated people-"

"Are you forgetting that before the incident with you and her, I was friends with her?" Topanga asked, folding her arms.

"You were friends with my mother?" Brent asked, his hardened eyes softening ever so slightly when he gave Topanga his full attention. His mother had never mentioned a woman named Topanga. Sure, she'd mentioned losing a few friends – one of them being the fiercest girl that she had ever know-

Wait a minute.

"The Amazon warrior." Brent stated in disbelief, rubbing his face with both of his hands tiredly. "I should have known – as if I was that stupid."

"Your mother talked about me?" Topanga asked in surprise.

"She never said your name, just that she was once friends with a fierce girl that she always called an Amazon warrior. God, she told me stories about you when she'd had a few drinks. I thought that you were made up – no one could be as strong and ferocious as that, but now I get it." He explained in awe. "She'd cry herself to sleep talking about that friends that she'd lost when she made a mistake with my father, and she always said to me that if I ever found a girl as fierce as the Amazon warrior for myself, I'd be the luckiest guy alive."

"I can't believe that she said all that, even when our friendship ended badly. When I found out about her and Cory I said the most horrible things to her and even after that-"

"Can we just go back to the fact that Brent just said she'd only talk like that after drinking?" Cory asked tensely, barely processing the rest of the story and the fact that Topanga's eyes were glossy as she sat back down silently.

"She lost hope and found happiness in drinking – I could never complain." Brent growled, looking down when he felt Maya trying to uncurl his clenched fists. She looked back up at him from where she sat, calmly, innocently even, while she took one of his hands in hers and began rubbing delicate circles with her thumb.

"She was a drunk too, isn't that just fantastic?" Cory yelled sarcastically, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"You were the cause of everything!" Brent roared. "It's your fault I'm even alive and it's your fault that she was constantly tired, because she had to leave so that you could live your perfect life!"

"NO!" Cory shouted tempestuously. "I said no." He yelled, gesturing wildly to Maya and the hand that she was holding in a comforting gesture.

"Enough!" Riley exploded, much to everyone's surprise. "Stop fighting – you're not supposed to be fighting." She continued a little more quietly. "I want you both to apologise to each other, right now."

Everyone in the room stared at her in silence, and Riley planted both hands on her hips defiantly as she gave Cory a small glare.

"I'm sorry Brent." Cory mumbled like a reluctant child. "Some of my comments got out of hand and I shouldn't have vocalised my opinions like that."

Brent looked at his father blankly. After all that – after all that man had said about his mother – was he really going to accept the forced apology and say 'sorry' back?

Absolutely not.

In fact, he had nothing to say to the man.

Cory Matthews may have been Brent's father, but he was never Brent's dad.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you again," Brent commented snidely as he removed his hand from Maya's hold. "Because I have nothing to say." He snapped, moving away from the table. He picked up his leather jacket, phone and wallet before opening their front door, slamming it behind him.

* * *

Brent's head was a mess. In fact, it was so messy that even with all of his injuries from the night before, he found himself in the cage again.

And as much as he hated to admit it, he was getting his arse kicked by an opponent that he would decimate on a good day. Eventually though, Brent won. The anger that was pulsing through his veins after breakfast had managed to help him earn the victory.

John had to help him walk again, just like the night before. But this time when the two were near the exit, John tried putting Brent on his own two feet only to have the large British fighter fall back onto him.

Now, John was far from a tall guy and he wasn't exactly very muscular either. It took all of his strength to carry Brent to the top of the stairs and out into the Brooklyn alleyway.

"I warned you kid." John grunted, pulling Brent towards the street slowly. "You're an idiot – a complete nut-job."

"I know." Brent groaned in pain as he tried to pull the phone out of the pocket of his leather jacket. He eventually got it into view, looking down at it with one eye open as the other one was swollen shut from a blow received during the fight. Why was Topanga so far down in his list of contacts?

"Come on kid, on your feet." John said with another grunt, pushing Brent up as the Brit put the phone up to his ear. Brent failed to balance on his injured knee and the disorientating hit to the eye as well as the smack to the nose sent him back into John's smaller frame.

"Hey, Topanga." Brent said, trying to keep all the pain from his tone for just a moment. He looked down, noticing that his white t-shirt was no longer white; the blood running from his nose had quickly dyed the top of it red. "Look I know this is a lot to ask, but you don't happen to have Maya's number, do you?"

"Last try." John muttered, pushing his fighter up as they turned onto the quiet street. Brent fell right back into him and John sighed in frustration.

"Please, I just need to talk to her about, you know, family stuff. Yeah, that's all. Promise." Brent said, muttering a small thanks to John as the man continued to hold him up.

After getting Maya's number and calling the small blonde, Brent soon had the address of her mom's place that was nearby and John did his best to drag him there. It took at least twenty minutes, but John was finally able to get Brent to the apartment and up the stairs to the right door.

"Knock." Brent muttered to John, who rolled his eyes before doing so. The two waited for a few moments and both sighed in relief when the door clicked and swung open, revealing a short blonde that John presumed to be Maya.

"Brent are you freaking serious?" Maya asked, taking in the new swollen eye, the bleeding nose and the man that was holding him up.

"He's all yours." John stated bluntly, pushing Brent onto her much smaller frame. Maya visibly struggled to keep Brent's weight upright and ended up having to hold his aching arms over her back. "The legendary Vagos, ladies and gentlemen." John muttered to himself, forgetting that Maya could still hear him. "Fifty seven career wins my ass."

And with that John closed to apartment door, leaving before he had to deal with his top fighter any longer.

"Who was that?" Maya snapped, dragging him to the bathroom on her back. Shawn and Katy were currently on a date night – they had decided to go and see a show, and luckily it ran late so Maya could do something with the Brit that had just shown up at her place.

"John." Brent mumbled through the blood that was drying over his lips.

"You were so beat up this morning – why the hell did you do this to yourself?" She asked as she shoved him down on the toilet seat that was luckily already closed.

"My head's a mess Maya." He replied as he shut his good eye. "I was angry and there was this itch I get that makes me want to fight and I just gave in to it straight away."

"I'm going to get some ice for your eye and then when I get back you're going to tell me about that guy that was carrying you to my door." Maya said, exiting the bathroom before he got the chance to reply and returning moments later.

"Thanks." He mumbled, taking the ice and putting it over his eye as the blonde did exactly what she did the previous night.

"So, who's John. You never said you had any friends here." Maya began wiping away the blood carefully, not wanting to press down too hard to the bruised cheek that was just as purple as it had been that morning.

"John is my friend Jacob's New York contact. I met him the night before I cut my lip-"

"I knew that wasn't a razor cut, you ass." She muttered before biting her lip in concentration.

"You know everything – that's why I made him drag me here." Brent muttered.

"What does John do?"

"He does a lot of betting and stuff. He's who gives me the money when I win."

"Win a fight?"

"Yeah." He said coolly.

"What happens when you lose?" Maya asked, walking over to the sink so that she could rinse the towel under the hot water again.

"Wouldn't know, I've never lost." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at how cocky he sounded and he chuckled when he noticed her doing so.

"Fifty seven's a lot." Maya commented innocently as she threw the towel in the sink.

"I did a lot of fighting when I was in England."

"What's a Vagos?" She questioned curiously, one eyebrows raising when she saw him tense up even more than he already was.

"I'm Vagos. It's Latin – for reckless. It's how people describe me when I fight in the cage-"

Realisation dawned on him the moment the words came spilling out of his mouth. Brent had done his best so far not to mention that he took part in cage fighting, and by the way Maya frowned in what was perhaps annoyance, he knew that she hadn't misheard.

"Cage fighting." Maya sighed, rolling her eyes once again. "I should've known it was something as stupid as that."

"While we're being open about things, I fight in an underground circuit, with betting and basically no publicity." Brent said, removing the ice from his eyes for a moment and looking down at one of his good t-shirts. Well, it wasn't exactly good anymore…

"Oh, illegal cage fighting." Maya said satirically. "No wonder you said you cut your lip with a razor – that's not something you want to go around broadcasting if you want to be part of the Matthews family."

"I'm done with trying to be part of my father's family." Brent growled, putting the ice back on his eye as he tried to stand. Maya immediately moved forward to help him, doing her best to support his weight as they limped out of the small bathroom.

"So you're done with me and Riley? You're just going to leave?" Maya was trying her hardest to keep hostility out of her tone, but Brent could sense it. She was asking if he was going to leave. Just like her father had done.

"I didn't say that." He groaned in frustration.

"Sounded a lot like it." Maya retorted, dragging him into her room and dumping him on her bed.

"Well I'm not going anywhere at the moment."

"Right, fine." She said, not entirely believing him. He'd lied to her enough since he'd arrived and he would have to do a lot for her to trust him without evidence. "Look, my mom and Shawn are gonna be home soon and if they see you here my mom'll go crazy and Shawn will call Cory."

Brent sat himself up, leaning with his back against the wall as she continued.

"You can stay here – on the floor – and then leave when they've both left for work in the morning." Maya said, her fiery blue orbs watching him sharply from where she stood in the middle of the room.

"I've got nowhere to go, I'm not even gonna argue." Brent mumbled, moving himself off of the bed and down to the floor so that his back was now leaning against the side of her bed.

"Didn't expect you to." She said as she threw him a red blanket that was sitting at the end of her bed. "Oh, look, it's the same colour as the top of your shirt."

"Oh, ha-ha." Brent replied snidely. "You really are hilarious, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm hilarious." Maya smirked. "I'd just say that I'm honest."


	7. Full English

A/N Cute chapter. Breya fans will probably enjoy. Rucas is going to start making more appearances soon. Have a fabulous day and don't forget to review;)

* * *

Chapter 7

Maya couldn't sleep.

She'd never been a great sleeper in the first place but when there was a boy on her floor…

Sleep was avoiding her like people avoided her when she was mad, and she couldn't help but repeatedly look down at the floor.

Brent's face was messed up bad. In fact, it had gone from a solid seven to a terrifying ten because the swollen eye looked incredibly sore. Maya ran her teeth over her bottom lip nervously. He was a cage fighter with what she had learned to be anger issues and a past that was similar to hers. Is that how she would have turned out if she hadn't climbed through the bay window?

She rolled her eyes, internally scolding herself for thinking like that. Brent wasn't a bad person. The arguing with Cory was just tensions hitting their limit and the cage fighting was, well…

He said he went because of an itch. Not because he wanted to.

God this was all so confusing. If she just asked him then maybe it wouldn't be so complicated anymore-

"Brent." Maya whispered, sighing in annoyance when he didn't even move. "Brent." She whispered a little louder, moving her leg out of the side of the bed so that she could use her toes to nudge his back.

"What?" He groaned tiredly, his voice gravelly and deep as he rolled over.

"I wanna talk." She said quietly as she sat up in her bed and placed her back against the wall so that she could look straight down at him.

"Right now?" Brent asked gruffly, running a hand through his hair while he sat up to face her.

"Yep."

"Okay." He said softly, pulling his knees up to his chest as he looked at her outline with his good eye. It was still dark and the only lights in her room were the little beams of moonlight that were able to creep round the edges of the blinds that covered her window. Brent could barely see her face, and he doubted that she could see his. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You know before, when you said you gave in to an itch," Maya started as she crossed her legs into a pretzel shape. "What did you mean?"

"You know when you crave a food, like chocolate or something like that." He saw the outline of Maya's head nod slightly and knew that she wanted him to continue. "Well it's like that with the cage. I start craving it and I try and hold out, but then it gets worse and I give in and fight. I keep telling myself that it will be the last time but I just end up back there."

"So you're addicted to cage fighting?" Maya asked bluntly.

"I wouldn't say that-"

"The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem." She said knowingly. It was as if Brent could hear the smirk that had curled its way onto her lips.

"Jesus blondie, that's so cliché." Brent chuckled.

"I know." Maya giggled quietly in agreement. "But it's kinda true."

"Even if it is true, you don't have to worry. I'm fine."

"We're always fine." She whispered softly, so quietly that Brent swore she was just talking to herself. "We always say we're okay and we always have, but, are we?"

The vulnerability in her tone was literally ripping his heart out. Maya sounded confused and the way her voice cracked slightly while talking showed a weaker part of her that Brent hadn't seen since arriving in New York.

Gone was the tough, fierce girl that called him names, teased him to death and poked his bruised cheek. It was as if she'd done a complete one eighty and it killed Brent to see her like this.

"Riley told me a few days ago that she was happy that the old Maya was back, because everyone said I'd turned into her. Thing is, when they kept saying I was being Riley I told them all that they were crazy and that I was _fine_."

"But you weren't really okay?" Brent asked, moving quietly from the floor to the bed, taking a seat next to her with his back against the wall.

"I don't even know." She said as her head fell into her hands. "I'm supposed to be happy now my mom and Shawn are married – like we're moving out of here soon – but I still- I just-"

"Can't keep up with what's going on in your head; especially at night?"

"Yeah, that." Maya mumbled faintly, sitting back up and letting her head fall to the side so that it rested on Brent's shoulder.

"Well. Just so you know. I like this Maya." Brent whispered with a small smile. "And I also like the Maya that kicks me and smirks at me and calls me endless amounts of names."

"I guess you're okay yourself." She replied quietly, silently laughing when Brent snorted slightly. "You've gone from a solid seven to a tough ten, by the way."

"Got to love how highly you think of me sweetheart." He chuckled.

"Just saying, you should probably make sunglasses a permanent accessory for a while."

"They're in my suitcase-"

"Which is still at Riley's." Maya said with a soft sigh.

"Well that gives me a reason to go back, I suppose."

"You were going to go back anyway." She retorted, smirking.

"What makes you think that?" Brent asked with a sceptical frown.

"Because you have Matthews blood in you – and anyone that's a part of that family would eventually go back. It's how that family works."

* * *

"We've just got her back! Maya finally came back!" Riley raged at Cory and Topanga. "She's finally back without doing anything extreme and it's because Brent's around-"

"Honey, calm down." Topanga said soothingly, pulling her daughter down to sit on the couch.

Breakfast had been a tense affair, with Auggie asking millions of questions about Brent's whereabouts and Riley glaring at her father whenever he answered innocently. Only when Auggie went to his room did Riley explode, and because the optimistic girl didn't explode often, her bouts of anger were always known to be lethal.

"No! I refuse to be calm." Riley snapped, folding her arms petulantly. "You know that when Brent was around Maya was the old Maya again. And Auggie sees him like another older figure to look up to, and I think he makes Maya happy – and when Maya's happy, I'm happy."

"Riley, it's not that simple." Cory sighed, wriggling in his position on the couch as he tensely scratched the side of his face.

"It is simple." She argued. "Like, really, really simple. You're just holding a grudge because of your relationship with his mom."

"I'd appreciate it if we all stopped bringing that woman up in conversations." Cory said coldly.

"Off you go again." Topanga commented, rolling her eyes. "She isn't here Cory, her son is. _Your_ son is. And now that you've both shouted at each other and got your feelings off your chests, I think that you should both agree to start again with a clean slate."

"Yeah, see, listen to mom." Riley added. "She knows what she's talking about."

"He's grown up without me." Cory stated calmly. "I've got no idea how we're going to start building a relationship now."

"Talk to Shawn." Topanga suggested. "Ask for some advice on how to start a relationship and listen to the feelings of someone who's grown up in a similar situation to Brent."

"That's a great idea." He said, regaining some of his cheer. "Talk to my best friend, how did I not even think of that?"

"Because you were upset." Riley said quickly.

"I may have been upset but I know I overreacted. I set a poor example for you and Maya and I made a lot of inappropriate comments that were clearly going to hurt Brent."

"Then tell him that; after you've talked to Shawn, approach Brent in the right way and discuss how you're going to start developing a relationship." Topanga said, cutting to the chase in a tone that she used while working. "Nothing about this whole thing is going to be easy Cory. But if the two of you can keep your tempers in check, it will make it a little bit easier for you and the rest of us."

The conversation continued on a higher note from there and while the three members of the Matthews family were talking, Brent and Maya were having their own morning conversation.

"Coffee?" Maya asked with a smirk. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure." Brent replied, smiling to himself while he cooked bacon.

The two had come to an agreement after Shawn and Katy had left the house. Even with his injuries, Brent had insisted on making breakfast and Maya being Maya was too lazy to put up a fight. She'd said she would do drinks so it wasn't like she was doing nothing.

"But you're English." Maya said, feigning a gasp as she stood on her toes to get two cups. "Aren't you supposed to be, you know, drinking tea and being all patriotic like a good Big Ben?"

"Come on sweetheart," Brent groaned. "I don't even like tea-"

"Seriously?" She whined. "Can't you just match with one stereotype?" Maya pouted as she spooned coffee into both of the cups. "It makes teasing you like ten times more fun."

"I like fish and chips, enjoy watching a good game of football every now 'n again, queue a lot and say sorry quite a bit." He said, smiling slightly when her sparkling eyes lit up and her smirk got even bigger.

"Thank god," Maya exclaimed with a small laugh. "Not everything is a lie."

"There's a lot more to me than that blondie." Brent chuckled as he picked up two large plates that were stationed nearby and began piling food onto both of them. "They're just four facts I thought you'd appreciate."

"I appreciate them very much." She replied, attempting a southern British accent while placing a cup of freshly made coffee on the counter beside him.

"I'm also making you a full English."

"Well aren't you funny?" Maya asked rhetorically. She walked past him, flicking his bruised cheek before sitting down at the small kitchen island.

"I really am quite hilarious." Brent couldn't help but put on a posher accent, grinning as the two bantered back and forth.

Maya Hart brightened his day. She'd brightened his day ever since the first family dinner and it wasn't stopping now that she knew about Brent's secret either. It made him relax, knowing that she wasn't vocally judging him and his decisions.

"Oh, now you're just getting my hopes up muscleman." Maya grinned into her cup of coffee as she took a sip, savouring the delicious taste of her morning caffeine while she watched Brent move around the kitchen in his ruined white t-shirt.

"Sorry, but I think I'm about to get them up even more." He shrugged sheepishly, taking a plate over to her before picking up his own along with the cup that Maya had left on the side for him.

"Oh my god this looks amazing." She commented. As soon as Brent passed her a knife and fork she immediately began digging into the plate that was packed with eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and other items that typically starred on a full English breakfast. "But seriously, you know I like food and all – I think this might be a bit much for me. I'm gonna try and finish this but I don't know if I can."

"I'm not gonna take offense if you don't eat it all." Brent laughed. "I got a bit carried away with the amount of stuff I was cooking, I don't expect you to finish everything."

After that the two sat quietly for a while, enjoying each other's company as they ate and drank their coffee. It was a calm morning, unlike the day before. That alone was refreshing for Brent and the fact that he was spending time with Maya made it that much nicer.

He hadn't been in America for long but he'd grown to care for Maya over the short period of time. Although her life had taken a turn for the better, she'd been through similar experiences to Brent and that alone made him feel closer to her than anyone else in his life currently.

Maya just seemed to get him. Even when it came to the cage fighting she didn't push; respecting the fact that he'd been through a lot and had fallen into something like fighting along the way.

She didn't negatively judge him either. Even when Brent had been dropped off at her door she had only looked pissed, not disappointed. Then Maya had gotten over her annoyance and helped him, just as she had done previously. Because that's the type of person she was – willing to help first and asking questions during and later.

Brent liked that about her. He liked a lot of other things as well but the fact that she cared was a quality that stood out to him. The best part about it was that she didn't even seem to try; it just came naturally.

"So, muscleman," Maya said as she cut into an egg. "I don't wanna piss you off or anything, but I've gotta ask: what's your plan?"

"Asking me that won't piss me off, and as for a plan – I don't have one."

"Well we're gonna have to make a plan then." She stated confidently. "So, first, we're gonna finish eating."

"I'm liking this plan so far." Brent drawled, chuckling when she rolled her eyes at his interference.

"So after, you're gonna turn your shirt around 'cause even though you'd suit red, blood isn't a good colour on you tough guy. Then you're going to put your jacket on; then we're going shopping for sunglasses and a new shirt."

"It's a good job I got paid last night then." Brent smirked and surprisingly, Maya smirked back. This was obviously going to be their new thing: giving each other shit-eating grins and cocky smirks. "And if we're going shopping for me, we're going shopping for you as well."

"Look," Maya said as the smirk faded from her face gradually. "My mom and Shawn got married and Shawn likes to spoil me as much as he can but money's still tight around here with the new place being finalised so-"

"Who said you're paying?" Brent shrugged, grinning when she frowned slightly. "What kinda British gentleman would I be if I made you pay? I've got my wallet and what I earned last night – so we're shopping for you as well – my treat."

"Come on Big Ben, you're insane if-"

"My treat." He repeated.

"I'm not just going to let you buy me clothes and stuff-"

"I'm treating you to lunch as well. Wherever you wanna eat, we'll eat there." Brent said sternly as he drank the rest of his coffee. "So, I'm gonna grab my jacket from your room and then do all the washing up while you get ready. No ifs, not buts. That's the plan, sweetheart."

"I'm only saying yes because you offered to do the dishes." Maya said bluntly. Brent couldn't help but laugh at her sarcastic comment and after a few moments Maya cracked, smiling and laughing along with him.

* * *

They'd gone into two stores, and Brent had walked out with a pair of urgently needed sunglasses, two new shirts and a new pair of boots because Maya liked them and thought they'd suit him.

Then Brent had told Maya he didn't need anything else, meaning it was her turn to start going crazy in stores such as Demolition.

Therefore: two tops, a pair of jeans, a skirt, two dresses, one pair of shoes, a cute necklace, and a bracelet were purchased. It totalled up to a modest amount but Brent didn't care how much of his winnings he spent, because it was on Maya. And he'd find a way to buy Maya anything if she asked.

After the unplanned shopping spree, Maya picked a small café that she'd visited a few times and Brent followed her there without questioning the decision, carrying most of her bags as well as his own.

In all honesty, Brent wasn't surprised to see that the café had a rather artistic, soothing feel. It was decorated with soft colours and there were many paintings on the walls to give the small, open space some originality. It seemed like a place that Maya would go to so that she could get some peace and quiet, perhaps to sketch without her world bothering her.

"So we're pretty much at the end of our plan." Maya said once they'd ordered sandwiches and milkshakes.

"Well this has been the best plan to ever be planned." Brent said with a sincere smile.

"Yeah, it's been alright." She replied coyly. "You know, muscleman, as much as I like the new glasses-"

"I look like a tool with them on inside. I know." Brent muttered as he took them off and put them down on the table.

"Well you've gone from a tough ten to a negative nine. How's your eye feeling at the moment?" Maya asked with a small smirk.

"It's feeling strained but I've barely thought about it." He answered. "Can't really complain anyway, I've had worse."

"That's a shame – I'm starting to miss that pretty face of yours."

"God, blondie, stop objectifying me." Brent whined satirically. "I can't believe you're only focused on my looks and not my personality; I'm not an item."

"I'm sorry." Maya said sarcastically. "It's just hard not to think about how pretty your face is with a purple patch and a swollen eye. The two really bring out your smile."

"My teeth are the only thing that are okay right now." Brent laughed and the two smiled at the waitress that started putting their food down on the table. "So, now that we've got to the end of our plan, do we make a new one?"

"Well, I was thinking," Maya said, picking up her sandwich. "That, if you're okay with it, we head to Riley's…"

"Maya-"

"You just need to talk to Mr. Matthews. He was a father figure to me growing up – I know that if you just talk for a bit it'll all be fine." She pushed.

"Don't you think it's a bit soon considering it happened yesterday?" He asked.

"Don't tell me you're scared to talk to them." Maya teased, smirking at him as she fiddled with the straw of her chocolate milkshake.

"I'm not scared-"

"Then you'll come with me when I go to Riley's then."

"Yeah, I will." Brent stated calmly, watching Maya as she silently celebrated her victory.

* * *

"Maya's home." Maya called as she entered the Matthews apartment. Brent followed her inside, holding all of her bags as he dropped his own on top of the suitcase that he'd left near the couch. "And I found a stray." She joked when a smiling Topanga came into view.

"Maya, Brent," Topanga said enthusiastically, stopping in front of the two. "I've been waiting for one of you to appear since this morning."

"Well you got us both." Brent cracked a half smile.

He still had the tinted sunglasses on and had no intention of taking them off, even when he was inside. The last thing he wanted was Topanga seeing the bruised eye to go along with the purple cheek.

"Look, Brent, about yesterday-"

"It's fine Topanga. It's a new day." Making peace with everyone was the best thing to do and Brent intended to do what was right. Arguing with the people that had accepted him into their lives wasn't something that he wanted, so making sure everything was okay with everyone was his mission.

"Well I'm glad you're doing okay." She had no idea. "And listen, I've been speaking to Cory and he's really beating himself up about what he said to you and how he said it."

"Yeah well I'm not completely innocent." Brent replied as he started handing Maya her bags. She was clearly eager to go and show Riley her new purchases. "Do you think he'll be willing to talk about it all?"

"Course he will Big Ben." Maya smirked, throwing the bags over her shoulders. "We're talking about Mr. Matthews here – he talks about everything."

"Been shopping Maya?" Topanga asked, folding her arms in amusement as she watched the blonde make her way across the room with multiple bags.

"We were supposed to be going shopping for him." She shrugged innocently, nodding towards Brent. "But underneath the tattoos he's one of those British gentlemen, so," Maya paused and lifted up her bags before heading off in the direction of Riley's room.

"You took her shopping?" Topanga's eyebrows raised as she looked back to Brent.

"Well, she took me shopping." Brent rephrased with a grin. "I just went wherever Maya wanted to go and carried her bags."

"And who paid?" She asked knowingly.

"I did." He said sheepishly, waiting for Topanga to scold him for being so close to Riley's best friend.

"The two of you seem to get along really well."

"We do." Brent agreed quietly.

"You can understand why Cory got worried then?" Topanga gave him and encouraging smile as the two moved to sit down on the couch. "There are some age gaps that can be worked around – like how it is with Maya and Josh. But-"

"But Cory doesn't want anything to happen between Maya and I. I understand that." Brent smiled a strained smile, internally thanking the fact that the sunglasses were covering his eyes.

His previous girlfriends always said that his eyes gave him away. That his eyes showed more emotion than gestures and words combined.

"It's not like that, Brent. The law and the fact that Cory knows that his brother has feelings for her are likely his main reasons." She explained sympathetically.

"You don't need to be worried." Brent said flatly. "I don't even know anyone here that well yet. We just give off a vibe like that because we get along great. Honestly, it's too early for me to say that I like her in a way that's anything other than platonic."

 _You keep telling yourself that, Romeo…_

"Never say never though." Topanga was looking at him calmly but there was a hint of a mischievous glint in her eye. Definitely the Amazon warrior.

"Don't encourage me." Brent chuckled.

Click.

It was then that Cory entered through his front door.

Brent rose from his seat on the couch and the two men stared at each other for what felt like ages (even though it was simply a matter of seconds).

"I'm sorry." The two of them said, cracking under the pressure simultaneously.

"Can we just move past this?" Brent asked coolly.

"Yeah, of course." Cory said as a smile crept onto his face. "Come on," He said with a grin, holding out his arms. "Bring it in."

The two shared what they would later describe to be a manly hug, and Brent was brought back into the home without it even needing to be broadcasted.

When Auggie found out he celebrated loudly.

When Riley found out she hugged Brent tightly while Maya jumped on his back and called him names.

Topanga continued to treat him like one of her own.

And Cory even pulled him aside, happily explaining the secret of life.

People change people.

Brent had never really considered that. But coming from Cory, it made a whole lot of sense. The question appeared in his mind, though. Would he stay around long enough to let these people change him into what he wished to be: a better person?


End file.
